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Auction Catalogue Sixteen

“The World Rushed In”: The California Gold Rush

Abstracts

Brief abstracts of each lot in the auction are listed below.
Following each abstract is a link to a more complete, illustrated description. Either
scan through the material, or click on the letter of the following alphabet
to get to the abstracts beginning with that letter:

2. Articles in a Miner’s Creed [by] Forty-Nine.
Entered...1855, by James M. Hutchings.... Broadside, printed
in double column within ornamental border. Single sheet. Thirty-five articles,
practical to humorous, on the life of the miner. The last article is: “He
believes that California, with all its social drawbacks, is not only a ‘great
country,’ but that it is in every sense the best place in the world for
a working man, and only awaits the coming of a good, sensible, intelligent, and
contented class of women to make ‘the desert to blossom as the rose,’ and
man to become rich, contented and happy.” ($1,000-2,000)
More>>

3. BAIRD, Joseph Armstrong. California’s Pictorial
Letter Sheets, 1849-1869. San Francisco: Grabhorn Press for David Magee,
1967. Prospectus laid in. Howell, California 50:1289: “The
standard work on the first two decades of California’s pictorial letter
sheets, listing 343 items, of which 60 are reproduced in full and tinted
to resemble the original paper on which they were printed. The letter sheets
are an extremely important visual source for California’s early history.” ($200-400) More>>

4. BALL, Nicholas. Voyages of Nicholas Ball, from 1839 to 1853. In Tabulated
Form, with Notes. Together with a Summary of a Trip to Europe in 1888. Boston:
L. Barta & Co., 1895. Howell, California 50:279: “The
itemized gold mining record under a separate title at the back is one of
the most accurate presentations of the actual cost and profit of placer mining
in the California gold region.” ($400-800) More>>

5. BARRY, T[heodore] A. & B[enjamin] A. Patten. Men and Memories of
San Francisco, in the “Spring of ’50.” By T. A. Barry and
B. A. Patten. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Company, 1873. Original
sage green wrappers; rare in wraps (not recorded in wraps). Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 38a: “The authors profiled many of the pioneer
businesses in the city ranging from restaurants to the Chinese laundry.” ($600-1,200) More>>

6. BARRY, T[heodore] A. & B[enjamin] A. Patten. Men and Memories of
San Francisco, in the “Spring of `50.” By T. A. Barry and B.
A. Patten. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft, 1873. Another copy of preceding,
in cloth. ($150-300) More>>

7. [BAUSMAN, William (attributed)]. The Idle and Industrious Miner [title
within ornamental border and with illustration of miner’s pick and whiskey
bottle]. Sacramento: James Anthony & Co., 1854. 19 text engravings by Thomas
Armstrong after Charles Nahl. 8vo, original upper green pictorial wrapper (restitched).
Streeter Sale 2756: “The great appeal of this
pamphlet lies in the many spirited drawings and capital letters with the text
and in the pictorial front wrapper which, though unsigned, are said in the
preface to be by Nahl and engraved by ‘Mr. Armstrong.’” The pictures
illustrate a poem where virtue is rewarded and vice pays the penalty. Charles
Nahl (1818-78), the “Cruikshank of California,” joined the Gold
Rush in 1850 and became one of the first resident California artists of significance.” The
success of The Idle and Industrious Miner firmly established Nahl’s
reputation as an illustrator. ($7,500-15,000) More>>

8. BENTON, J[oseph] A[ugustine]. The California Pilgrim: A Series
of Lectures, By J. A. Benton, Pastor of the First Church of Christ in Sacramento. Sacramento:
Solomon Alter; San Francisco: Marvin & Hitchcock, San Francisco. 1853. Book
Club of California, California Printing, p. 8: “Written in
imitation of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress...first Protestant
book to be published in California. The wood engravings are the first set
of illustrations by Charles Christian Nahl for a full-length book. ($150-300) More>>

9. BESCHKE, William. The Dreadful Sufferings and Thrilling Adventures
of an Overland Party of Emigrants to California, Their Terrible Conflicts
with Savage Tribes of Indians!! And Mexican Bands of Robbers!!! With Marriage,
Funeral, and Other Interesting Ceremonies and Customs of Indian Life in the
Far West. Compiled from the Journal of Mr. George Adam, One of the Adventurers,
by Prof. Wm. Beschke. St. Louis: Published by Barclay & Co., 1850. Original
pink printed wrappers, overall a very fine copy of a rare survival, particularly
in the seldom-seen wrappers. William Beschke’s imaginary overland
is about a genial group of young French adventurers disillusioned with life
in France who emigrate to America. The party is robbed by Comanche in the
Santa Fe area, leading to a wild fracas in which a hundred Comanche are killed
and the Frenchman, of course, are triumphant. They arrive at the Platte by
Christmas, where they winter. There the story ends, as if awaiting a sequel
that apparently never materialized. Beschke’s vividly penned thriller
is firmly grounded in the genre of California of the Imagination. The work
is certainly an early setting for fiction for the New Mexico-Colorado area,
Mayne Reid’s White Chief (1855) usually being cited as the
first New Mexico novel, if one wishes to exclude imaginary travels to Quivira
and Cibolo in earlier centuries. In this little rarity there is much untilled
ground for exploring attitudes and stereotypes, including women, Native Americans,
and Mexican-Americans. ($15,000-25,000) More>>

10. BORTHWICK, J[ohn] D[avid]. Three Years in California by J. D. Borthwick
with Eight Illustrations by the Author. Edinburgh & London: William
Blackwood & Sons, 1857. 8 lithograph plates on tinted grounds (from drawings
by author). Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 21: “Outstanding
account of mining life, with the best illustrations the period produced.” Zamorano
80 #8 (Robert J. Woods): “Horace Kephart writes in the introduction
to the 1917 edition: ‘Many narratives have been published by men who
participated in the stirring events of early California. From among them
I have chosen, after long research, one written by a British artist, Mr.
J. D. Borthwick, and issued in Edinburgh in 1857. The original book is now
rare and sought for by collectors of western Americana.’” J.
D. Borthwick’s Three Years in California roars with excitement,
and for this reason, his book has universally been proclaimed as one of the
most important accounts of the Gold Rush. ($600-1,200) More>>

12. BROMLEY, George Tisdale. The Long Ago and the Later On; or, Recollections
of Eighty Years by George Tisdale Bromley. San Francisco: A. M. Robertson,
1904. “Edition de Luxe” (#36 of 150 copies,
large paper special issue, printed on Japanese vellum paper, with larger
reset title page, signed by author and in the special binding). Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 78: “In this rambling account, he painted
a vivid picture of the destruction of the Custom House during the May 1851
fire, the celebration of Christmas that year, an interesting visit by an
Australian to the gold fields, and the arrival in 1852 of the crew of a Japanese
junk rescued by the revenue cutter Polk. Sometime in the 1850s the
author also worked in the mines near Folsom and Sonora.” ($300-600) More>>

13. BROWN, James S[tephen]. California Gold An Authentic History of the
First Find With the Names of Those Interested in the Discovery. Published
by the Author James S. Brown Salt Lake City, Utah. Oakland: Pacific
Press, 1894. Fine copy of a rare survival printed in exceedingly fragile
format. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 85a. “Of vital historical
importance being the only printed relation - aside from that of Marshall
himself - by an eyewitness of and participant in the gold discovery.” Brown’s
recollection described his employment by Sutter to work with Marshall on
building the mill on the American River. Brown’s story was published
on the occasion of a visit to San Francisco’s Midwinter Fair in 1894.
($1,000-2,000) More>>

14. BROWN, John H[enry]. Reminiscences and Incidents, of “The Early
Days” of San Francisco, by John H. Brown, Actual Experience of an Eye-Witness,
from 1845 to 1850. San Francisco: Mission Journal Publishing Co., [1886]. Printer’s
proof copy, with contemporary pencil corrections and page numbers supplied
at top of each page. The corrections found here were not incorporated into
the published edition. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 88a. Zamorano
80 #10. Every search for the true picture of San Francisco’s beginnings
as a city leads finally to John Henry Brown’s ‘Early Days.’ Despite
the fact that the colorful author put down these recollections four decades
after the events described, they provided an invaluable narrative of an incredible,
rough-and-tumble era. Consequently, his reminiscences are among the best
and most compelling pictures of the port city during those golden years of
1848-1849. ($1,200-2,400) More>>

15. BROWN, John Henry. Reminiscences and Incidents, of the Early Days
of San Francisco.... San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press, 1933. Limited
edition (500 copies). Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 88b. Zamorano
80 #10n. ($75-150) More>>

16. BRUFF, J[oseph] Goldsborough. Lithographed rebus letter dated at Washington
City, August 1856. Lithograph of a letter written in script and phonic illustrations.
Image approximately 26.6 x 42.5 cm (10 1/2 x 16 3/4 inches). Overall a very
good copy of a rare, highly unusual, and amusing imprint. Very rare. Bruff,
an accomplished artist, organized a company which traveled overland to the
gold region in 1849-50. The letter refers to their trials and tribulations,
as well as to the projected publication of Bruff’s notes and drawings
on his arduous trip. This inimitable lithograph is entertaining, utterly
captivating, and highly clever. The technical achievement is a highly unusual
tour de force of lithographic art. ($4,000-8,000) More>>

17. BRUFF, J. Goldsborough. Gold Rush: The Journals, Drawings, and Other
Papers of J. Goldsborough Bruff, Captain, Washington City and California
Mining Association April 2, 1849-July 20, 1851 Edited by Georgia Willis Read
and Ruth Gaines, with a Foreword by F. W. Hodge. Volume 1: Washington City
to Bruff’s Camp. [and] ...Volume 2: Bruff’s Camp to
Washington City. New York: Columbia University Press, 1944. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 93a. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 25.
This original edition is considered superior to later reprints because of
the quality of paper and printing. Editors Read and Gaines spent over fifteen
years editing Bruff’s journals, assembling the extensive critical notes
and elaborate appendices. Their introduction is a masterpiece. ($250-500) More>>

18. BRYANT, Edwin. What I Saw in California: Being the Journal of a Tour,
by the Emigrant Route and South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, across the Continent
of North America, the Great Desert Basin, and through California, in the
Years 1846, 1847...By Edwin Bryant, Late Alcalde of St. Francisco. New
York: D. Appleton & Company, 200 Broadway; Philadelphia: Geo. S. Appleton,
1848. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 26: “The prime
and almost the earliest authority on the California of the discovery period.” Zamorano
80 #12. Even without the discovery of gold, What I Saw in California would
have been well received and remembered as an irresistible invitation to settle
in California. Contemporary reviews in the national press praised its accuracy
and authority. Gold fever, however, changed its intended purpose, causing
it to be reprinted several times. Attesting to the value of Bryant’s
text, it was republished around the globe, including English, Dutch, French,
Swedish, and Belgian editions. ($750-1,500) More>>

19. BRYANT, Edwin. What I Saw in California: Being the Journal of a Tour,
by the Emigrant Route and South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, across the Continent
of North America, the Great Desert Basin, and through California, in the
Years 1846, 1847...By Edwin Bryant, Late Alcalde of St. Francisco. London:
Richard Bentley, 1849. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 95c. Plains & Rockies 146:3.
($200-400) More>>

20. BRYANT, Edwin. What I Saw in California: Being the Journal of a Tour,
by the Emigrant Route and South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, across the Continent
of North America, the Great Desert Basin, and through California, in the
Years 1846, 1847...By Edwin Bryant, Late Alcalde of St. Francisco. Sixth
Edition. New York: D. Appleton & Company; Philadelphia: Geo. S.
Appleton, 1849. Includes the important and impressive: Map
of California, Oregon, Texas, and the Territories Adjoining with Routes &c.
Published by J. H. Colton, No. 86. Cedar St. New York, 1849.... D.
Appleton & Co. New York. Lithograph map with ornate vine border,
original hand coloring (boundaries in pink, California gold region in yellow).
This was the first edition to contain two maps. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 95i. Plains & Rockies IV 146:9. ($1,500-3,000) More>>

22. BUFFUM, Edward. Six Months in the Gold Mines: from a Journal of Three
Years’ Residence in Upper and Lower California. 1847-8-9. By E. Gould
Buffum, Lieutenant First Regiment New York Volunteers. Philadelphia:
Lea and Blanchard. 1850. All in all a superb, bright copy of a book very
difficult to find in decent condition.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 97: “One of the most
important contributions to the history of California. Observing the Gold
Rush from its beginnings, he recounted every facet of life including the
tremendous non-mining potential of California and formation of government.” Streeter
Sale 2613: “One of the earliest accounts of the diggings.” ($750-1,500) More>>

23. [CALIFORNIA]. Beretning om Californien og dets
Guldrigdom. Med et Kart over Californien. Christiania: C. Wulfsberg, 1849.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 50: “This Norwegian guidebook
to California clearly demonstrates the worldwide effect of the Gold Rush.” After
a brief introduction that discusses the history of California, the anonymous
author reproduces material from the famous report dated at Monterey August
17, 1848, from Colonel R. B. Mason to the War Department telling of the discovery
of gold in California. Next is a long excerpt from Vizetelly’s enduring
fabrication, Four Months in the California Gold Fields (q.v.), a work
used as the basis for many European accounts of the Gold Rush. The text concludes
with various information about California, some of which is drawn from newspaper
accounts. This book probably was responsible for the first real influx
of Norwegians to California, which occurred soon after the discovery of gold
was announced. ($7,500-15,000) More>>

24. [CALIFORNIA]. California Gold Regions, with a Full Account of Their
Mineral Resources; How to Get There, and What to Take; the Expenses, the
Time, and the Various Routes. With Sketches of California; an Account of
the Life, Manners, and Customs of the Inhabitants, Its History, Climate,
Soil, Productions, &c. A Cheap Edition for the People. Price Twelve-and-a-Half
Cents. Ten Copies for One Dollar. New York: F. M. Pratt; W. H. Graham,
Agent for Supplying the Trade, [1849]. Very rare Gold Rush ephemera. Howell, California 50:102a: “Published
as ‘a cheap edition for the people’ ... this guide to California
and the Gold Region was extremely popular and appeared under numerous imprints
from various Eastern cities. It provided a comprehensive historical background
as well as geographic and economic descriptions of the area, and was intended
for prospective emigrants.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 105. ($7,000-14,000) More>>

26. [CALIFORNIA]. Gemeinnütziger Anzeiger der Wage. Nro. 1. Neuste
Nachrichten über Californien und dessen Goldreichthum.... [caption
title]. Prague: Moritz Ernst, [1849]. Rare California ephemera not in standard
sources, OCLC, or RLIN. This is apparently an extra to the periodical publication Die
Wage. The text is divided into three sections. In the first California
is praised and described, including its many advantages to the emigrant.
The second section is the famous report dated at Monterey August 17, 1848,
from Colonel R. B. Mason to the War Department telling of the discovery of
gold in California. Finally, the third section is information about a shipping
line established by Heydorn & Company in Bremen to transport German emigrants
and speculators to California. A fine, rare promotional piece seeking to
entice Germans to emigrate. ($7,500-15,000) More>>

28. CALIFORNIA MINERS’ ASSOCIATION. California Mines and Minerals.
Published by the California Miners’ Association under the Direction
of Edward H. Benjamin, Secretary for the California Meeting of the American
Institute of Mining Engineers. San Francisco: Louis Roesch Company,
1899. A very fine copy. This book purports to survey all aspects of California’s
mineral wealth and includes two chapters on the petroleum industry (with
a photograph of crowded oil rigs in Los Angeles) and one on the copper industry.
Among other topics considered are surveys of each appropriate county, mining
organizations, machinery, and the University of California’s College
of Mining. The ads contain documentary illustrations and photographs of many
types of mining machines in use at the time, mining scenes, logging operations,
and establishments such as the Del Monte and Palace Hotels. ($250-500) More>>

29. CAMDEN, Charles. The Autobiography of Charles Camden Being a Synopsis
of Main Occurrences in His Life from August, Eighteen Hundred and Thirty-Four
up to May Nineteen Hundred, Written by Himself and Privately Printed and
Published after His Death by Family. San Francisco: [Privately printed
at the Philopolis Press], 1916. First edition, limited edition (50
copies). Howell, California 50:346: “A vivid account of the
Gold Rush trials, tribulations, and eventual success of a young Englishman.
Camden mined in South America, but, upon hearing of the discovery of gold
in California, left Peru and arrived in San Francisco on October 2, 1849.
Besides mining and running a saw mill, he also explored the northern California
coast before retiring to Oakland.” Founded by A. F. and L. K. Mathews,
the Philopolis Press was part of the California Arts and Crafts Movement
dedicated to rebuilding San Francisco. ($2,000-4,000) More>>

30. CAPRON, E[lisha] S[mith]. History of California, from Its Discovery
to the Present Time; Comprising also a Full Description of Its Climate, Surface,
Soil, Rivers, Towns, Beasts, Birds, Fishes, State of Its Society, Agriculture,
Commerce, Mines, Mining, &c. With a Journal of the Voyage from New York,
via Nicaragua, to San Francisco, and Back, via Panama. With a New Map of
the Country by E. S. Capron, Counsellor (sic) at Law. Boston & Cleveland:
John P. Jewett & Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, 1854. With
full color lithographed map: California 1854. Published by J. H.
Colton, No. 86 Cedar St. New York Entered according to Act of Congress in
the Year 1853. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 116. Wheat, Maps
of the California Gold Region 254: “This is the same map as that
listed as 1853—Colton, save for the change in date. It seems
also to have been included in ‘Colton’s Atlas of the World...by
George W. Colton....’ This was probably the best-known map of California
in the eastern states during the ‘fifties. It was republished annually
for a time, with little or no change.” The lure of this once fairly
common book (priced at $50.00 in the Howell catalogue) is in part due to
the wonderful Colton map. ($750-1,500) More>>

31. Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine. New York [De Vinne for]:
Century Company, 1890-1891. 3 issues as follows: Vol. XLI, No. 1, November,
1890; Vol. XLI, No. 2, December, 1890; Vol. XLI, No. 4, February, 1891. All
in original wrappers. It is difficult to find individual
issues, particularly in wrappers and in fine condition. Each issue preserved
in blue folding case. Among the contents of California and Gold Rush interest
are several by important, early pioneers: John Bidwell’s “Life
in California before the Gold Discovery” and his “The First Emigrant
Train to California”. (Bidwell was an extremely prominent California
settler who arrived there on the first wagon train from Missouri and subsequently
worked as Sutter’s agent for many years.) John S. Hittell’s “The
Discovery of Gold in California.” (Hittell was a Forty-Niner who
quickly lost interest in gold mining and turned to writing, becoming a major
promoter of the state in conjunction with Bancroft’s publishing firm.
In this article he announces, apparently for the first time, his conclusion
that Marshall discovered gold on January 24, 1848.) ($150-300) More>>

32. [CLAPPE, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith]. The Shirley Letters from California
Mines in 1851-52 Being a Series of Twenty-Three Letters from Dame Shirley
(Mrs. Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe) to Her Sister in Massachusetts and
Now Reprinted from the Pioneer Magazine of 1854-55 with Synopses
of the Letters, a Foreword, and Many Typographical and Other Corrections
and Emendations, by Thomas C. Russell Together with “An Appreciation” by
Mrs. M. V. T. Lawrence Illustrated. San Francisco: Printed by Thomas
C. Russell, at his Private Press, 1922 Pristine, in fine pictorial d.j. with
one minor chip. This edition was limited to 450 copies,
this being #254 of the issue of 200 copies printed on buff California bond
paper, signed, numbered, and notated “Hand-colored plates” in
ink by Russell on limitation leaf. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 133a: “The Shirley
Letters have received the highest possible praise. The importance of
her letters was recognized early on and influenced the views and writings
of Josiah Royce, Hubert Howe Bancroft, Bret Harte, and possibly, Samuel Clemens.” Zamorano
Eighty 69. ($600-1,200) More>>

33. [CLAPPE, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith]. Volume One [Two] California
in 1851 The Letters of Dame Shirley Introduction and Notes by Carl I. Wheat.
San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press, 1933. 2 vols. with printed folder laid
in, each containing leaf of manuscript on art history written by Clappe on
ruled paper. Very fine dust jackets. 500 copies, only 50 of which contained
the original manuscript material by Dame Shirley. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 133b: Rocq 6354. Zamorano 80 #69n. Her
glittering epistles from the mines certainly may be regarded as the most
famous publication associated with the Gold Rush, and with the ever growing
interest in the role of women, appreciation of her letters has soared.... It
is these particulars that make her words so readable, so well studied, and
so often quoted. ($750-1,500) More>>

34. CLARKE, A[sa] B[emet]. Travels in Mexico and California: Comprising
a Journal of a Tour from Brazos Santiago, through Central Mexico, by Way
of Monterey, Chihuahua, the Country of the Apaches, and the River Gila, to
the Mining Districts of California. Boston: Wright & Hasty, 1852.
Seldom found in cloth, which is rarer than the wrappers issue. Howell, California 50:376A: “First
printed description of the route north from Camargo, Mexico, through Chihuahua
and Sonora to the Gila River of Arizona.” Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 138. Streeter Sale 3169: “Though this is not one of the
rarest ‘overlands,’ it is one of the most interesting... [the author’s]
route had not previously been described.” Wheat, Books of the California
Gold Rush 41. ($2,000-4,000) More>>

36. [CLEMENS, Samuel Langhorne]. The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County, and Other Sketches. By Mark Twain [pseud.]. Edited by John
Paul [pseud. of Charles Henry Webb]. New York: C. H. Webb, Publisher,
1867. Very scarce in plum cloth and with the frog placed at center. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 43. Zamorano 80 #17. Mark
Twain, with his account of the jumping frog, produced the most famous tale
in California, if not Western, history. This little gem of humor introduced
the famed author’s first book and gave him international prominence. ($7,500-15,000) More>>

37. COLUMBIA MINING DISTRICT. Columbia Mining Laws. [Columbia,
California: Columbia Gazette, 1853]. Folio broadside printed in 3
columns. Eberstadt 131:105: “Crudely printed with newspaper type; a press
had been established in the mining camp in 1852. The item is of basic importance...as
an example of how the California miners—or men beyond the reach
of government anywhere else in our States and Territories, for that matter—banded
together and enacted and enforced codes of law for their own protection.” ($5,000-10,000) More>>

38. COMSTOCK, J[ohn] L[ee]. A History of the Precious Metals, from the
Earliest Periods to the Present Time; with Directions for Testing Their Purity,
and Statements of Their Comparative Value, Estimated Cost, and Amount at
Different Periods; Together with an Account of the Products of Various Mines;
A History of the Anglo-Mexican Mining Companies, and Speculations Concerning
the Mineral Wealth of California: By J. L. Comstock, M. D., Author of “Philosophy,” “Geology,” “Mineralogy,” “Chemistry,” etc. Hartford:
Belknap and Hamersley, 1849. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 154: “Comstock
also calculated the cost of going to California, the loss of labor in the
eastern United States, and estimated that it would take $22,260,000 in California
gold before the United States would realize a profit.” ($300-600) More>>

39. COLTON, Walter. Deck and Port; or, Incidents of a Cruise in the United
States Frigate Congress to California. With Sketches of Rio Janeiro,
Valparaiso, Lima, Honolulu, and San Francisco. By Rev. Walter Colton, U.
S. N., Author of “Ship and Shore,” etc. New York: A. S.
Barnes & Company; Cincinnati: H. W. Derby & Co., 1850. An unrecorded
variant. Cf. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 150a & 150b. Colton
correctly predicted: “Not one in ten of all the thousands who have,
or may go to California to hunt for gold, will return with a fortune.” ($150-300) More>>

40. COLTON, Walter. Three Years in California. By Rev. Walter Colton,
U.S.N. Late Alcalde of Monterey; Author of “Deck and Port,” etc.,
etc. With Illustrations. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co.; Cincinnati:
H. W. Derby & Co., 1850. All in all, a superb, bright, tight copy, plates
excellent. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 46: “Colton’s
entries graphically depict the news and results of the gold discovery in
the coastal towns. Excellent engraved portraits of Sutter and other pioneers.” Zamorano
80 #20. The lively plates tinged with sardonic humor are the work of
wood engraver William Orr. It is an essential work documenting the
transition of California from a remote Mexican province to a pulsating, gold-driven
American state. ($400-800) More>>

42. CRANE, James. The Past, the Present and the Future of the Pacific.
By James M. Crane. San Francisco: Printed by Sterett & Co., No.
111 Washington Street, 1856. Provenance: Eberstadt-Henry H. Clifford copy.
Cowan I, pp. 59-60: “Demonstrates the indifferent
attitude of the federal government towards California. It is written in a style
that is readable, and even fascinating.” Kurutz, The California Gold
Rush 162: “James Crane, a pioneer journalist, wrote this long, rambling
essay to protest the “gross neglect” of California and its neighboring
territories by Congress and the Federal Executive.” ($800-1,600) More>>

43. CRONISE, Titus Fey. The Natural Wealth of California comprising Early
History; Geography, Topography, and Scenery; Climate; Agriculture and Commercial
Products; Geology, Zoology, and Botany; Mineralogy, Mines, and Mining Processes;
Manufactures; Steamship Lines, Railroads, and Commerce; Immigration, Population
and Society.... San Francisco: H. H. Bancroft, 1868. The preferred
issue, with plates. Howell, California 50:400: “The best and
most reliable work of its time, describing climate, agriculture, geology,
zoology, railroads, mining, and manufactures. Many copies were issued without
the plates.” Bret Harte made unidentified contributions to this work.
($200-400) More>>

44. DAMON, Samuel C[henery]. The Friend, A Monthly,
Devoted to Temperance, Seamen, Marine and General Intelligence. Published and
Edited by Samuel C. Damon, Seamen’s Chaplain. Volume VII. Honolulu,
Oahu, H.I.: Printed at the Polynesian Office, 1849. A very good copy of a scarce
imprint, generally encountered in second issue, with new title page and only
numbers 6 to 12. Rarely found thus. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography 1726: “Damon’s
well-written narrative is a classic, and provides an early account of life
in the gold mines. He describes the primitive social conditions at the mines,
and the racial tensions extant between the varied groups of gold seekers.” Cf.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 168a (second issue). ($4,000-8,000) More>>

45. DEGROOT, Henry. Recollections of California Mining Life. By Henry
DeGroot. Primitive Placers and First Important Discovery of Gold. The Pioneers
of the Pioneers—Their Fortune and Their Fate. Written for the Mining
and Scientific Press. San Francisco: Dewey & Co., 1884. 16 pp. About
as perfect a copy as one might ever expect to find. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 175. Wheat, Books of the California Gold
Rush 56: “Crammed with Gold Rush data.” The illustrations
are the work of artist Charles Nahl, who is often referred to as the “California
Cruikshank.” ($1,800-3,600) More>>

46. DELANO, A[lonzo]. Life on the Plains and among the Diggings; Being
Scenes and Adventures of an Overland Journey to California: with Particular
Incidents of the Route, Mistakes and Sufferings of the Emigrants, the Indian
Tribes, the Present and the Future of the Great West. By A. Delano. Auburn & Buffalo:
Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1854. Los Angeles bookman Jake
Zeitlin’s pencil note at front with Streeter and Wagner-Camp numbers
and “First issue.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 177.
Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 57: “One of the most
forceful accounts of the journey to and of adventure in the mines of California,
by a gifted observer and writer.” ($300-600) More>>

47. DENIS, Ferdinand, Élias Regnault & Frédéric Lacroix.Histoire
des Antilles et des Colonies Françaises, Espagnoles, Anglaises, Danoises
et Suédoises. Saint-Domingue, Cuba et Porto-Rico, la Jamaique, la
Dominique, Antigua.... Paris: Firmin Didot Frères, 1849. A very
fine, untrimmed copy. These four volumes in one issued
as separate titles in the large Didot series L’Univers: Histoire
et Description de tous les Peuples, of which it forms the fifth volume
of the American portion. The engravings are lovely, with subjects such as
Cuba, Washington, Virginia, New York, and Canada, the latter of which includes
excellent plates of indigenous tribes. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 186.
($400-800) More>>

49. [DERBY, George Horatio]. Phœnixiana; Or, Sketches and Burlesques.
By John Phœnix. “In the Name of the Prophhet—Figs.” New
York: D. Appleton and Company, 1856. Superb, bright, tight copy. First collected
edition of works by the Gold Rush humorist. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 63: “The lighter side of the Gold
Rush, by ‘the father of the native American school of humor,’ who
was also an eminent topographical engineer. Derby also wrote The SquibobPapers and
prepared several notable early maps of California areas.” ($100-200) More>>

50. [DIRECTORY]. BEAN, Edwin F. Bean’s History and Directory of
Nevada County, California. Containing a Complete History of the County, with
Sketches of Various Towns and Mining Camps, the Names and Occupation of Residents;
Also, Full Statistics of Mining and All Other Industrial Resources. Nevada
City: Printed at the Daily Gazette Book and Job Office, 1867. First
edition, first directory printed in Nevada County, and an early imprint for
Nevada City. Quebedeaux 36: “Very scarce.... His history and directory
is, by far, the best-known of all California directories. One of the great ‘standard’ county
histories, it is, in the minds of many collectors, dealers, historians and
libraries, one of the most valuable—content-wise—of all the directories
published in the United States.” Wheat, Books of the California
Gold Rush 13: “Notable compendium of early source material.” A
substantial essay is given over to mining gold from quartz deposits, which,
as the author notes, has been the subject of numerous false starts. ($4,000-8,000) More>>

51. [DIRECTORY]. FITCH, Thomas & Co. Directory of the City of Placerville
and Towns of Upper Placerville, El Dorado, Georgetown, and Coloma, Containing
a History of These Places, Names of Their Inhabitants, and Everything Appertaining
to a Complete Directory. Together with a Business Directory. Placerville:
Placerville Republican Printing Office, 1862. Association copy with nineteenth-century
ink stamp of noted lawman and Wells Fargo Detective James B. Hume “Special
Officer W. F. & Co. San Francisco, Cal.” The first book printed
in Placerville, the first Placerville directory, and the first El Dorado
County directory. Quebedeaux 11: “First book printed in Placerville....
Without a doubt... one of the most important historical sources of the California
gold region.... Very few copies on record and perhaps the rarest of
the mining town directories.” This historic imprint constitutes an
important source on towns and mining camps that have long since disappeared,
with names of citizens, histories, advertising, churches, government officials,
etc. The region covered in the directory was significant during the California
Gold Rush. ($5,000-10,000) More>>

52. DORNIN, George D. 1849-1879 Thirty Years Ago. George D. Dornin. [Berkeley,
1879]. 2 mounted albumen photographs in excellent condition—crisp and
strong. Kurutz, California Books Illustrated with Original Photographs
1856-1890 #84. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 200: “[Dornin]
headed off for Nevada City. There, he went into a partnership with a George
O. Kilbourne, who was pursuing the business of daguerreotyping. Dornin, himself,
took up the new trade and opened his own daguerrian gallery in Grass Valley
in the summer of 1853.” ($5,000-10,000) More>>

54. DRAPER, Seth. Voyage of the Bark Orion from
Boston around Cape Horn to San Francisco, Cal., in the Year 1849, Touching at
Rio de Janeiro and Juan Fernandez by Seth Draper. Providence:
[Privately printed by H. O. Houghton and Company and Riverside Press at Cambridge],
1870. Privately printed in a small edition. Very rare. Cowan II, p. 184.
Howell, California 50:441. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 206: “Draper recorded the arrival of other
California-bound vessels and wrote in some detail about what he saw at this great
port city. He also provided fine accounts of his trip around Cape Horn and a
four-day visit to Juan Fernandez Island. He arrived in San Francisco on May 6,
1850....” ($2,000-4,000)
More>>

55. ECKFELDT, Jacob R[eese] & William E[wing] Du
Bois. New Varieties of Gold and Silver Coins, Counterfeit Coins, and Bullion;
With Mint Values. Philadelphia: Published by the Authors, 1850. With genuine
samples of California Gold beneath two small transparent disks mounted on p.
45. An excellent specimen in the preferred blue binding of a particularly fragile
imprint, one of the top rarities of American numismatic literature. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 217a. ($7,500-15,000) More>>

56. EVANS, Albert S. Á la California. Sketches of Life in the Golden
State. By. Col. Albert S. Evans. Author of “Our Sister Republic.” With
an Introduction by Col. W. H. Barnes, and Illustrations from Original Drawings
by Ernest Narjot. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft, 1873. Spinal extremities
slightly frayed, otherwise a superb, bright, fresh copy. It would be difficult
to find a better copy. Howell, California 50:454: “Particularly
striking are Evans’ descriptions of San Francisco, among them a Chinese
funeral feast, the low life of the Barbary Coast, and the street panoramas and
sounds of the city.” Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 68: "Refreshing
sketches, mostly of the later period, but with some significant material on Gold
Rush days." The lively illustrations are after the work of French artist
Ernest Narjot, who studied art in Paris before joining the Gold Rush to California
in 1849. He died in poverty in San Francisco. ($250-500) More>>

57.
FARNHAM, Eliza W. California In-Doors and Out; or, How We Farm, Mine,
and Live Generally in the Golden State. By Eliza W. Farmham. New York:
Dix, Edwards, 1856. A feminist perspective of the Gold Rush. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 72. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 232: “Farnham,
the pioneer California feminist and widow of Thomas Jefferson Farnham, dated
her preface July 1856, Santa Cruz. While providing important observations of
California in general, chapters XXXV through XXXVIII are devoted to the mines.” ($200-400) More>>

58. FARNHAM, Thomas Jefferson. Pictorial Edition!!! Life, Adventures,
and Travels in California.... To Which are Added the Conquest of California,
Travels in Oregon, and History of the Gold Regions. New York: Nafis & Cornish;
St. Louis: Van Dien & MacDonald, 1849. 53 full-page woodcut text illustrations
within line borders, large folding colored map. This book, when found,
is usually in deplorable condition. A very bright copy, text fresh, map with
good color retention and professionally restored (occasional small losses
at fold lines, cleaned, deacidified, and backed with Japanese tissue). Forbes, Hawaiian
National Bibliography 1737 (noting 5 Hawaiian plates). Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 233a. In contrast to California’s natural
gifts, Farnham had much less enthusiasm for its residents noting that “its
miserable people live unconscious of these things.” He reinforced Dana’s
highly prejudicial stereotype of a sleepy, mañana-oriented people
in a state of eternal bliss who failed to grasp the enormous opportunity
of California. The anonymous map is a large, popular production of the Phelps
and Ensign genre, shouting “Manifest Destiny Realized.” ($750-1,500) More>>

59. FARNHAM, Thomas Jefferson. Pictorial Edition!!! Life, Adventures,
and Travels in California. By T. J. Farnham. To Which are Added the Conquest
of California, Travels in Oregon, and History of the Gold Regions. New
York: Nafis & Cornish; St. Louis: Van Dien & MacDonald, 1849. 53
full-page woodcut text illustrations, no map in this copy, as is frequently
the case. Another copy of preceding, without the map. ($150-300) More>>

60. FERRY, Hypolite. Description de la Nouvelle Californie geographique,
politique et morale contentant l’historique de la découverte
de cette contrée. Un précis des événements politiques
qui s’y sont accomplis. Des renseignements détaillés
sur sa topograhpie, son climat, ses productions minérales, végétales,
et animales.... Paris: L. Maison, 1850. Except for scattered light
foxing and moderate offsetting from plates, very good to fine, the large
map excellent. Howell, California 50:81: “Among the
plates are views of Sutter’s Fort, San Francisco in 1850, and the big
trees of California. The latter view is probably the first of its kind to
be published.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 236a. Wheat, Mapping
the Transmississippi West 673: “All in all, Ferry’s map
was about as up-to-date as it could have been in early 1850.... In general
this map is good.” Written for emigrants, sailors, voyagers, and armchair
travelers, this book is based on numerous official accounts and other fairly
reliable sources of information. ($2,500-5,000) More>>

61. FLEISCHMANN, J. C[arl] L[udwig]. Neueste Officielle Berichte an die
Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten über die Lage und Zukunft Californiens.... Stuttgart:
Franz Köhler, 1850. A fine copy of a rare German guide to the Gold Fields.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 241: “Fleischmann served
as U.S. Consul, sponsored immigration projects, and put together this short
pamphlet to gain interest in the potential of California. The majority of
the work is a translation of T. Butler King’s March 22, 1850, report
on the mines. The consul also added translations of other official reports
including Lieutenant Maury’s summary of a proposal to build a railroad
linking both coasts.” ($3,500-7,000) More>>

62. [FLEMING, G. A.]. California: Its Past History; Its Present Position;
Its Future Prospects: Containing a History of the Country from its Colonization
by the Spaniards to the Present Time; a Sketch of its Geographical and Physical
Features and a Minute and Authentic Account of the Discovery of the Gold
Region, and the Subsequent Important Proceedings..... London: Printed
for the Proprietors, 1850.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 242: “The hand-colored
plates are of exceptional quality and the engraved frontispiece is one of
the glories of Gold Rush literature.” Wheat, Books of the California
Gold Rush 4: “Exceptionally complete and interesting compendium
of California material, with important colored plates.” This guide
is a perfectly serious one intended to be of actual use to an English emigrant.
($2,500-5,000) More>>

63. [FLEMING, G. A.]. California: Its Past History; Its Present Position;
Its Future Prospects.... London: Printed for the Proprietors, 1850.
No map in this copy, but with extra plates not always found with the book.
For the record, between the preceding work and the present one, the only
two plates not present listed by Kurutz are: Encampment of Settlers Travelling
to the Station (possibly a generic emigration scene) and Banks of
the River Hutt (a New Zealand scene). ($750-1,500) More>>

64. [FORRESTER, Alfred Henry]. A Good Natured Hint About California By
Alfred Crowquill.... Published by D. Bogue 86 Fleet Street; M & N Hanhart
lith Printers. [1849]. 35 uncolored lithograph caricatures on rectos
with text beneath, professionally reassembled into original accordion format.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 248: “This English publication
consists of a series of thirty-five cartoon-like scenes depicting a trip
by ‘Mivins’ to the gold fields, the inevitable trials and tribulations,
and the joyous return home.” ($2,500-$5,000) More>>

65. [FOSTER, George G. (editor) (attributed)]. The Gold Regions of California;
Describing the Geography, Topography, History, and General Features of That
Country, from the Official Reports Transmitted to the American Government
by Colonel Mason, Lieutenant Emory, T. O. Larkin, Esq., Rev. Walter Colton,
J. S. Folsom, Esq., and Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont. Together with Exclusive
Authentic Particulars, and a Coloured Map of the Country. Second Edition. London:
Baily Brothers, [etc.], [1849]. With lithograph folding map with original
hand coloring showing gold region in yellow outline: Map of the Gold
Regions of California [lower left above neat line]: Paul Jerrard,
Litho. 206 Fleet St. All the early English editions
are exceedingly rare and the map is of more than passing interest. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 250e: “This is the first considerable pamphlet
on the Gold Regions and but two others (Sherwood and Simpson) are contemporary
with it. The author was the first to suggest going to California in companies
or associations, and he predicts that ‘one year will see ten or fifteen
thousand heady and adventurous Americans in the heart of California, ready
to dig gold.’” ($5,000-10,000) More>>

66. FRÉMONT, Jessie Benton. A Year of American Travel by Jessie
Benton Frémont. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1878. Minor
chipping to delicate wrappers with small losses, otherwise very fine. The
book is rare, but exceedingly so in wraps. Kurutz, The California Gold
Rush 255: “Jessie Benton Fremont, the illustrious wife of John,
traveled to California via the Isthmus of Panama in April 1849 to meet her
husband. The coincidental events of the California gold discovery combined
with her own travel adventures make her recollections doubly interesting.” ($2,500-5,000) More>>

67. FRÉMONT, John Charles. Geographical Memoir upon Upper California,
in Illustration of His Map of Oregon and California.... Washington:
Tippin & Streeper, 1849. House issue of the report of Frémont’s
third expedition, with the large-scale map rather than the smaller quadrant
map. The first widely circulated map to announce the location of the discovery
of gold deposits along the American and Feather rivers; and it introduced
or perpetuated numerous California place names including Kern River, Walker
Pass, Owens Lake, and the ‘inspired’ term, Golden
Gate, designating the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Kurutz, The
California Gold Region 256b: “His report provided gold seekers
with a reliable summary of the terrain they were about to encounter.” ($1,500-3,000) More>>

68. FRÉMONT, J[ohn] C[harles] & [Jessie Benton Frémont]. Report
of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and
to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-’44.... Washington:
Gales and Seaton, Printers, 1845. Senate issue. There is a duplicate
of Devil’s Gate plate; laid in is the missing plate Hot
Springs Gate, supplied from another copy. Generally a fine copy in original
condition, the large map excellent, much better than usually found, with
only mild browning at folds and a few clean, short splits. Wheat, Mapping
the Transmississippi West 497: “[Frémont’s report
and map] changed the entire picture of the West [and] represented as important
a step forward from the earlier western maps of the period.... [Frémont’s
map] represented trustworthy direct observation, a new, welcome, and long
overdue development in the myth-encrusted cartography of the West. To Frémont
and his magnificent map of his Second Expedition all praise.... This map
marked not only the end but the beginning of an era.” Zamorano
80 #39. ($2,000-4,000) More>>

69. FRIGNET, Ernest. La Californie Histoire Organisation Politique et
Administrative Législation Description Physique et Géologique
Agriculture—Industrie—Commerce. Paris: Schlesinger Frères,
1866. Henry H. Clifford copy. Cowan I, p. 92: “Of the numerous
works on California, this is one of the best and most complete of the period.
Many authorities have been consulted and carefully cited.” One of the
early French attempts to pull together a complete history of California by
a man who had travelled extensively in the state and wrote several works
on the U.S. and its progress. ($200-400) More>>

70. FRIGNET, Ernest. La Californie Histoire des Progrès de l’un
des États-Unis d’Amérique et des Institutions qui Font sa
Prospérité. Deuxième Édition Revue et Enrichie d’une
Carte de la Californie. Paris: Schlesinger Frères, 1867. Unopened,
a fine copy, the map fine. Second edition, except
for pp. [i]-xxvi and [473]-479, from the same setting of type as the first
edition, but with the map which did not appear in the first edition. ($200-400). More>>

71. GERSTÄCKER, Fr[iedrich Wilhelm Christian].
[Wrapper title]: Preis
5 Sgr. Kaliforniens Gold U. Quecksilber-District. Nach: the California-Herald
von Fr. Gerstäcker. 1849. Leipzig: Wilhelm Jurany, 1849. Original
white printed wrappers with untitled wood-engraved map of Northern California
on upper cover with table of distances from Monterrey. A rare Gold Rush guide
and Gold Region map. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 269: “This
pamphlet by the German traveler is based on an issue of the California
Herald published on December 16, 1849, and is essentially a guidebook.
Gerstäcker provided information on crossing the Isthmus but recommended
the Cape Horn route. He also warned Germans against the overland route. In
addition to giving travel advice, the author described San Francisco and
the gold region and provided quotations from various newspapers. Adventurer,
traveller, and schlockspinner Friedrich Gerstäcker (1816-1872), a native
of Hamburg, left Germany in 1837 for a six-year stay in the United States
and began publishing accounts of life there after he returned to Germany.
($10,000-20,000) More>>

72. [GOLD]. [DODD, George]. Gold: In the Mine, the Mint, and the Workshop. N.p.,
n.d. [London?, ca. 1852?]. Uncommon. A single sheet signed H; this sheet also
issued as part of George Dodd’s The Curiosities of Industry and the
Applied Sciences (London: George Routledge & Co., 1852). After
an opening paragraph briefly recounting the discovery of gold at Sutter’s
Mill—of which discovery Dodd remarks that it has “set the whole
world in commotion”—he proceeds to a brief review of the progress
of gold mining in California, using such sources as Mason’s report. One
of his conclusions is, “California has taught us a few strange things,
and none stranger than the effect of the gold discoveries on prices” (p.
7). ($250-500) More>>

73. GRASS VALLEY GOLD MINING COMPANY. Charter of the Grass Valley Gold
Mining Company. Organized July 25, 1851, under the General Incorporation
Act of California. Together with Extracts from the Law, and Various Documents
Illustrating the Business of Quartz Mining. New York: Printing Office,
1852. Second edition, revised and enlarged. Kurutz, The California Gold
Rush 287b: “Jonas Winchester served as president of the company.
The charter included a series of letters describing quartz mining in the
area and a report on the geological character of the gold region. Several
of the letters were first published in San Francisco and New York newspapers.
Winchester included Horace Greeley’s letter of support.” ($750-1,500) More>>

74. HARTE, [Francis] Bret[t]. The Luck of Roaring
Camp, and Other Sketches. By Francis Bret Hart. Boston: Fields, Osgood,
1870. A good to very good copy; title page with contemporary ink ownership
inscription: “Mrs. Frémont.” With this book is a very
good copy in original green cloth of the second American edition, with the
added short story “Brown of Calaveras.” Also included is Bret Harte’s
1896 autograph letter to his wife dated at Arford House, Headley, Hants, signed “Limick.” Howell, California 50:510: “Bret
Harte’s
greatest book [and] one of the cornerstones of California literature.” Zamorano
80 #40. ($750-1,500) More>>

75. HASKINS, C[harles] W[arren]. The Argonauts of California, Being the
Reminiscences of Scenes and Incidents that Occurred in California in Early
Mining Days by a Pioneer.... New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert,
1890. With the book is Libera Martina Spinnaze, Index
to the Argonauts of California (New Orleans, 1975). Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 319:The
first section of the book presents the most reliable account. As Morgan comments,
the remaining portion consists of dialogue, fictitious or otherwise. Haskins
is best known for the Pioneer Index, a list of 35,000 pioneers who arrived
in California by December 31, 1849. ($300-600) More>>

76. HECO, Joseph. The Narrative of a Japanese; What He Has Seen and the
People He Has Met in the Course of the Last Forty Years. By Joseph Heco.
Edited by James Murdoch, M.A. Vol. I. [II] (From the Time
of His Being Castaway in 1850 down to the Fight of Shimonoseki.) Printed
by the Japan Gazette Newspaper Company, Yokohama and sold by Maruzen Ltd.
Co. Bookstore, Printed on 30 April 1895. Published 10 May 1895. Bindings
generally fine and bright. Exceptionally rare. This copy contains four of
the author’s autograph letters signed, in English, 7-1/2 pp., dated
at Kobe in 1883 and 1886-1887, addressed to “Dear Doctor” and
Mr. Harris. First autobiography of a Japanese-American in English. Forbes, Hawaiian
National Bibliography 4681: “The first edition is of considerable
rarity.” Kurutz,The California Gold Rush 325a: “Heco,
in these amazing reminiscences recorded the only published account of a Japanese
in the Gold Rush.” Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 94: “His
experiences were unique. He saw the Gold Rush through wondering eyes. He
became an American citizen, visited Washington and met the President, and
thereafter returned to Japan to serve as an official interpreter of the American
Mission.” ($12,000-18,000) More>>

77. HECO, Joseph. The Narrative of a Japanese; What He Has Seen and the
People He Has Met in the Course of the Last Forty Years.... Edited by James
Murdoch, M.A. (From the Time of His Being Castaway in 1850 down to the Fight
of Shimonoseki.) Published by American-Japanese Publishing Association,
San Francisco, California, [ca. 1950]. Very fine set. Second edition
of above. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 325b. ($300-600) More>>

78. HENTY, G[eorge] A[lfred]. Captain Bayley’s Heir: A Tale of the
Gold Fields of California.... London, Glasgow & Dublin: Blackie & Son,
Limited, n.d. Reprint of a popular work of juvenile
fiction based on the California Gold Rush. WLA, Literary History of the
American West: Captain Bayley’s Heir...recounts how Frank
Norris, who is wrongly accused of theft, flees England for adventures in
the West which enable him to achieve wealth, restore his name, marry his
sweetheart, and stand for Parliament.” ($75-150). More>>

79. HITTELL, John S[hirtzer]. A History of the City of San Francisco and
Incidentally of the State of California.... San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft,
1878. Generally very fine. Cowan I, p. 111: “The most reliable and
standard authority that has yet appeared upon the period it includes.” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 99: “Impressive work by the historian
of the Society of California Pioneers. ($400-800) More>>

80. HITTELL, John S[hirtzer]. Marshall’s Gold Discovery. A Lecture
(The Fourth of Sixth Annual Course of Lick Lectures) by John S. Hittell Delivered
before the Society of California Pioneers in Pioneer Hall, San Francisco,
on the 24th of January, 1893, the Forty-Fifth Anniversary of the Discovery. San
Francisco: B. F. Sterett, 1893. Rare pamphlet. Contemporary ink ownership
inscription of F. Vassault, apparently of the pioneering San Francisco family
of that surname. Cowan I, p. 111: “The date of the discovery
of gold by Marshall had long been in controversy. In this address it has
been definitely and finally established. ($150-300) More>>

81. HOLBROOK, Samuel F. Threescore Years: An Autobiography, Containing
Incidents of Voyages and Travels, including Six Years in a Man-of-War.... Boston:
James French and Company, 1857. Generally a fine, fresh copy, the gilt pictorial
illustration on upper cover bright. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 336.
As Cowan notes, the author had little regard for the state and its inhabitants. “San
Francisco,” he wrote, “was filled with gamblers, rogues of every
species, cutthroats, highway robbers, Sydney convicts, villainous commission
merchants and bankers, fraudulent auctioneers, hypocrites, apologies for
courts, and some of the most miserable and contemptible pettifoggers that
could be scraped together from every section of the country.” ($2,000-3,000) More>>

82. HOLLINGSWORTH, John McHenry. The Journal of Lieutenant John McHenry
Hollingsworth of the First New York Volunteers ... being a Recital of the
Voyage of the Susan Drew to California; The Arrival of the Regiment
in 1847; Its Military Movements and Adventures during 1847-1848-1849; Incidents
of Daily Life, and Adventures of the Author in the Gold Mines. San Francisco:
California Historical Society, 1923. Limited to 300 copies, this copy from
the “DeLuxe edition” (in boards, on large, thick paper, and limited
to 50 copies). Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 339: “Page
49 of this important journal begins with a section entitled ‘Experiences
as a Gold Finder,’ which mainly covers the efforts of Lieutenant John
Hollingsworth and Colonel Jonathan D. Stevenson and their party to reach
the mines. Hollingsworth recorded: ‘On arriving at the Mokelamy [sic]
river, I there saw for the first time little particles of gold, washed from
the earth.’ Winter, however, interrupted them, and the narrator tells
of the miserable time they experienced before returning to Monterey. ‘In
those few days I suffered, I think, everything.’” ($150-300) More>>

85. JOHNSON, Theodore T[aylor]. Sights in the Gold
Region, and Scenes by the Way. New York: Baker and Scribner, 1849. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 363a: “Johnson’s book provided one of
the earliest, liveliest, and most detailed accounts of the Gold Rush.” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 112: “One of the earliest published
accounts by an actual ‘returned Californian,’ who asserts that
he ‘visited California to dig gold, but chose to abandon that purpose
rather than expose his life and health in the mines.’” ($400-800) More>>

86. JOHNSON, Theodore T. Sights in the Gold Region, and Scenes by the
Way. Second Edition—Revised and Enlarged. New York: Baker and
Scribner, 1850. First illustrated edition of preceding, revised & enlarged,
added plates and map. Howell, California 50:127: “The second
edition is the more valued, in that it includes both the map, in some cases
colored, and the plates. The plates are not present in all copies.” Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 363a: “The second edition was embellished
with a map and illustrations.” ($400-800) More>>

87. JONES, T[heodore] E[ldon]. Leaves from an Argonaut's Note Book:
A Collection of Holiday and Other Stories Illustrative of the Brighter Side of
Mining Life in Pioneer.... San Francisco: Whitaker & Ray,
1905. Two small spots on upper cover, otherwise very fine. In his preface the
author comments: “Coming to this State with the tide of immigration which
flocked in from every quarter in 1850, I made my home in the mines until after
the century was ended, in fact my home was in one mining county for forty-nine
years. Naturally, in such a long period of residence, I saw mining life in all
its various phases.” Illustrator Laura May Adams Armer (1874-1963) was
a well-known San Francisco photographer and artist. She also made motion pictures
and wrote children’s books. ($100-200) More>>

88. KELLY, William. An Excursion to California over
the Prairie, Rocky Mountains, and Great Sierra Nevada. With a Stroll through
the Diggings and Ranches of That Country. London: Chapman and Hall,
1851. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 370a. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 115: “Lively, entertaining and worthwhile
narrative.” The record of a three-month journey from Liverpool to the
goldfields, where he arrived in late July 1849. Although Kelly has left a
lively, interesting account of his experiences in the U.S. and in California,
his first remark upon viewing the American coast was, “I was exceedingly
disappointed by the low, flat, naked appearance of the shore as we approached
the land, without a natural beauty to meet the eye in any direction.” The
narrative continues in much the same unflattering vein throughout its course.
Although he finds Sacramento charming, the way of life there appalls him,
especially the “pandemoniums,” which he describes with some evenhandedness.
($1,500-3,000) More>>

89. KING, Thomas Butler. T. Butler King’s Report on California.
Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting the Report
of T. Butler King, Esq. Heretofore Appointed Bearer of Dispatches and Special
Agent to California. [Washington, D.C., 1850]. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 377a. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 118: “This
outstanding report...was reprinted in numerous editions and formats. It was
widely read.” Sometimes epochal reports appear in common dress, as
here. Although King is impressed with the prospects of California for the
production of such things as beef, grain, and even turnips, he comments towards
the end of his report extensively on the California Gold Region, how gold
is mined, the quality of it, and what legislation is needed to ensure the
proper disbursement of it to miners, investors, and the public. ($75-150) More>>

90. [KIP, Leonard]. California Sketches, with Recollections of the
Gold Mines. Albany: Erastus H. Pease, 1850. Except for
small split to fragile spine and minor bumping at lower blank margin of upper
wrap, a superb copy, exceptionally fine and fresh. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 379a: “A younger brother of William Kip,
the pioneer Episcopal bishop, Leonard Kip provided some excellent descriptions
of San Francisco, Stockton, mining camps, and life in the diggings around the
Mokelumne River area. In one entry, for example, he noted as he approached a
ravine ‘the sounds of many rockers in full play.’ His companions,
however, suffered from dysentery, scurvy, low provisions, and little success.
Consequently, his impressions of California were gloomy. Predicting a bleak future
for the state once the gold ran out, he wrote: ‘It will readily be conceived
that California can present few inducements to the settler.’ According
to the introductory notice, these recollections ‘. . . were intended for
one of the daily papers, but the friend to whom they were sent (in the absence
of the author), has assumed the responsibility of publishing them in this form,
for the benefit of those who are meditating a voyage to the El Dorado of the
West.’” Streeter Sale 2638: “This is a wonderfully fresh and interesting
account of early days in the California gold mines, by the brother of William
Ingram Kip, Bishop of California. This book was probably the impelling reason
for Bishop Kip’s coming to California in 1853.” ($10,000-20,000) More>>

91. LA CARRIÈRES, A. C. De. Voyage aux Pays
Aurifères Afrique, Mexique, Californie Pérou, Chili, Nouvelle-Calédonie,
Australie, Russie .... Paris: Librairie de A. Courcier, [1855]. 12 lithographs
on toned grounds, publisher’s original blind and gilt-stamped pictorial
cloth with morocco onlays. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 386. In
this possibly fictitious account the author takes a philosophical tour of
the world’s gold mining regions to discover and describe the effects
of gold on various parts of the world and on humankind. In his discussion
of slavery in the West Indies, he interestingly refers to Harriet Beecher
Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which had been published
only a few years before. In general, the author seems to believe that gold
is one of the world’s scourges. The beautiful plates are very well
done, capturing not only ethnic types, but also emotions of the participants.
Unfortunately, the creators of the plates are not identified. The plates
are an unusual contribution to the iconography of the Gold Rush. The designer
of the elaborate pictorial binding engaged in charming excess. ($400-800) More>>

92. LAMSON, J[oseph]. Round Cape Horn. Voyage of the Passenger-Ship James
W. Paige, from Maine to California in the Year 1852. Bangor: O. F. & W.
H. Knowles, 1878. Chapters from the section entitled “California
Scenes” are “Scenes in Sacramento,” “Cattle Stealing
in Contra Costa,” “Felling Trees in the Redwoods,” “Indians
and their Costumes,” “The Yosemite Fall,” “The Domes,” etc.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 389: “Lamson left Frankfort,
Maine, on April 3, 1852, on the barque James W. Paige. Shipping around
Cape Horn, Lamson and his fellow passengers arrived in the San Francisco harbor
on September 7. Lamson devoted the vast majority of his book to the 158-day
journey. He provided a good description of the abandoned ships in the harbor.
The remaining text he called ‘California Scenes,’ in which he narrated
his adventures in Sacramento and his descriptions of natural wonders, Indians,
and rifle shooting.” ($100-200) More>>

93. LANGWORTHY, Franklin. Scenery of the Plains, Mountains and Mines:
or a Diary Kept Upon the Overland Route to California, by Way of the Great
Salt Lake.... Ogdenburgh: Published by J. C. Sprague, 1855. Thespian
Jean Hersholt’s copy, signed and with bookplate affixed to chemise.
Cowan I, p. 135: “A scarce book, and no doubt served its purpose; but
it is a most dreary performance in literature.” Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 391a: “Langworthy spent two years traveling throughout
California and the mining regions and presented his readers with a compact,
but vividly written description of the mines, mining methods, and mining
society. His accounts of thievery and gambling halls painted a sordid picture
of the land of gold. Langworthy also wrote of the November 1852 fire in Sacramento;
Dr. Bourne’s hydropathy; bull and bear fights; San Francisco; and the
burning of the S. S. Lewis. These observations were balanced with
positive statements about California’s flora, fauna, and agricultural
wealth.” ($400-800) More>>

94. LEE, Israel S. “Letters of Israel S. Lee Written to his Family from
the California Gold Fields 1849-1857. (Copied from the original letters by
Elizabeth P. Batchelder, July 16, 1961).” [56] pp. 4to, Spirit Master
of typescript, blue paper folder. Consists of a series of letters from Lee
to various family members written during his voyage around the Horn and from
various places in California while Lee prospected for gold. Lee includes many
interesting twists and turns in a miner’s life, including such matters
as living arrangements, costs, and mining operations. He seems to have been
moderately successful, as several of his letters concern gold that he has sent
back to his family and few of them reflect any real want or distress. ($150-300) More>>

95. [LETTS, John M.]. A Pictorial View of California; Including a Description
of the Panama and Nicaragua Routes, with Information and Advice Interesting
to All, Particularly Those Who Intend to Visit the Golden Region. New
York: Henry Bill, 1853. This work is notable for the fine series of 48 lithographed
plates of California views and scenery by George V. Cooper. Many of the lithos
are early views of California towns and cities. Mexican images include two
views of Cabo San Lucas, three of Acapulco, and the Baja California coast.
The large number of early city views in this work make it a valuable documentary
source. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 398e: “Letts left
New York on the bark Marrietta on January 27, 1849, headed for Chagres.
In Panama City, he boarded the Niantic and arrived in San Francisco
on July 4. From there, he went to Sacramento, Mormon Island, and other points.
Drawing on his personal experience, Letts produced one of the best accounts
of gambling, violence, and life in the mines.... George V. Cooper,
Lett’s traveling companion and New York artist, drew the illustrations
that embellish this work. His scenes, reproduced as forty-eight tinted lithographs,
document the journey across Panama, San Francisco, Sacramento, life in the
mines, and Central America.” ($1,000-2,000) More>>

96. LÉVY, Daniel. Les Français en Californie par Daniel
Lévy. Cet ouvrage se vend au profit de la Bibliothèque de la
Ligue Nationale Française de San Francisco. San Francisco: Grégoire,
Tauzy, 1884. Very scarce, either in wraps (as here) or cloth. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 126: “Of basic import.” Stern, California
Jewish History 171: “The many references to Jews in this book,
show that there were large numbers of French Jews in California in the early
days, and that they were very prominent in civic, social, and economic life.” ($500-800) More>>

97. [LUCETT, Edward]. Rovings in the Pacific, from 1837 to 1849; With
a Glance at California. By a Merchant Long Resident at Tahiti. London:
Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851. Forbes, Hawaiian National
Bibliography 1825. Hill
II:1041: “A rather spirited [narrative] of adventure in almost every
island of the Pacific, and an excellent account of the troubles in Tahiti and
its annexation by the French.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 409: “This
merchant author wrote in cynical terms about what he saw.” Although only
in the South Seas for just over a decade, Lucett travelled widely and offers
many entertaining and sometimes caustic observations on the people and circumstances
he encountered. From his home in Tahiti he travelled to places such as Hawaii
and California. He met the imprisoned Herman Melville, of whom he makes many
unflattering remarks. He also did not much care for Hawaii or California. ($1,000-2,000) More>>

98. LYMAN, Albert. Journal of a Voyage to California, and Life in the
Gold Diggings, and also of a Voyage from California to the Sandwich Islands. Hartford:
E. T. Pease; New York: Dexter & Bro.; Boston: Redding & Co., 1852.
All in all an exceptional copy, very rare in wraps. Forbes, Hawaiian
National Bibliography 1887: “An
important scarce Gold Rush narrative.” Kurutz, The California Gold
Rush 411: “Albert Lyman, a twenty-four-year-old merchant from Hartford
and member of the Connecticut Mining and Trading Company, arrived in San Francisco
on August 6, 1849, after a strenuous and adventure-filled voyage. Immediately
all of the sailors deserted ship. Lyman and his companions hired a pilot for
$350 to take the General Morgan up the Sacramento River. They arrived
in Sacramento City on August 10, and the company split. Lyman and nine others
went back to San Francisco to form a business running the schooner up the river.
Lyman and friends also established a store in Sacramento and one in Mormon
Island, and still found time to survey the diggings. The remaining portion
of the book covered the Sandwich Islands.” ($5,000-10,000) More>>

99. LYMAN, Albert. Journal of a Voyage to California, and Life in
the Gold Diggings, and also of a Voyage from California to the Sandwich Islands.. Hartford:
E. T. Pease; New York: Dexter & Bro.; Boston: Redding & Co., 1852. Cloth
issue of preceding. ($2,000-4,000) More>>

100. [MAP]. COLTON, John Hutchins. Pocket map with text: Text:
[COLTON, John Hutchins]. Particulars of Routes, Distances, Fares &c.,
to Accompany Colton’s Map of California and the Gold Region. Collected
from Official Documents. Map: Map of the United States the British
Provinces Mexico &c. Showing the Routes of the U.S. Mail Steam Packets
to California, and a Plan of the Gold Region. Published by J. H. Colton,
86 Cedar St. New York. 1849. Lithographed map within ornate grapevine.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 149: “The text accompanying
Colton’s map includes interesting explanatory information on the routes
and long quotations from President Polk and Walter Colton on the prospects
in California.” ($4,000-8,000) More>>

101. [MAP]. HORN, Hosea B. Pocket map with text: Text: Horn’s Overland
Guide, from the U.S. Indian Sub-Agency, Council Bluffs, on the Missouri River,
to the City of Sacramento, in California; Containing a Table of Distances,
and Showing all the Rivers, Creeks, Lakes, Springs, Mountains, Hills, Camping-Places,
and Other Prominent Objects.... New
York: J. H. Colton, 1852. Map: Map to Illustrate Horn’s Overland Guide
to California and Oregon. Published by J. H. Colton, No. 86 Cedar Street, New
York. 1852. Lithograph
map within ornamental floral border. A brilliant, untouched copy. First edition,
early mixed issue. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 343b: “Hosea
Horn was a lawyer from Bloomington (now Muscatine), Iowa. Edward Eberstadt
called this guide ‘the most exact account.’ Horn was an experienced
overlander and the ‘Certificates’ of others, found on page 5, support
the value of this slender work. In press endorsements, the New York Observer,
March 11, 1852, offered the following: ‘It is the first work of the kind
that has been published, and being from the pen of a bona fide traveler,
is doubtless correct. No one should venture across the desert without it.’” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 105: “Important guide with detailed
information on the trans-plains route. Used by many immigrant parties.” ($9,000-14,000) More>>

102. [MAP]. HUTAWA, Julius. Pocket map:Map: Map of Mexico & California
Compiled from the Latest Authorities by Juls. Hutawa Lithr. Second St. 45
St. Louis, Mo. 2nd. Edition 1863 [edition
statement altered on plates, 1863 and New Mexico overprinted]. “Fourth
issue” (according to Streeter Sale 180). Although not originally intended,
apparently, for the Forty-Niners, the 1848 edition would have been a serviceable
addition to such a person’s travel guides. The map seems clearly intended
for use as something of a vade mecum for the western traveller and miner.
Julius Hutawa, among the early German immigrants to Saint Louis, Missouri,
arrived with the Berlin Society in 1833 with his brother Edward. The brothers
engaged in lithography and publishing, and among the maps created by Julius
were Frémont and Nicollet’s Map of the City of St. Louis (1846;
see Peters, America on Stone, p. 2287), Map and Profile Sections
Showing Railroads of the United States (1849), Map of the United
States Showing the Principal Steamboat Routes and Projected Railroads Connecting
with St. Louis (1854), etc. (see Tooley). The brothers also published
city views. No copy at auction since 1992. ($2,500-5,000) More>>

103. [MAP]. JACKSON, William A. Pocket map with text: Text: JACKSON, William
A. Appendix to Jackson’s Map of the Mining
Districts of California. Bringing down All the Discoveries since 1849, to
the Present Time, of the Placers and All Descriptions of Vein Mines, to Which
So Much Attention is at This Time Directed. New-York: Lambert & Lane,
1851. Map: Map of the Mining District of California by Wm. A.
Jackson.Published by Lambert & Lane 69 Wall St. New York. Lithograph
map within ornamental border, original full color, folding into cover. Second
edition, revised and enlarged from the 1850 first edition. One of the additions
to the guide in this second edition is Jackson’s sobering caution: “We
could advise any one who is doing well at home, not to venture to California” (p.
15). Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 358b: “Jackson produced
this appendix to the map ‘to give a short description of the towns
and their locations, also a general account of the Mines— their importance—the
mode of working pursued....’ According to Thomas Norris, only two copies
of the map have been found. Howell noted: ‘The map indicates the rapid
growth of roads and trails, and of bars and diggings, some of the latter
being named for the first time.’ In the second and revised edition,
the text has been considerably rewritten and enlarged. New cities are added,
such as Vallejo, Marysville, Martinez, Santa Cruz, Agua Fria, and Mariposa
City. Jackson added new sections on the placers or alluvial mines; veins
of gold-bearing quartz; silver and lead mines; cinnabar mines; and agriculture.
Jackson concluded with the warning that California is not for everyone.” ($10,000-$20,000) More>>

104. [MAP]. JEFFERSON, T. H. Map of the Emigrant Road from Independence,
Mo., to St. Francisco, California...with an Introduction and Notes by George
R. Stewart. San Francisco: California Historical Society, 1945. Very
fine (300 copies printed). Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 359b: “T.
H. Jefferson states he was ‘one of the party of emigrants who travelled
the road with wagons in 1846.’ No doubt, he published this map and
guide to appeal to gold seekers.” Wheat, Maps of the California
Gold Region 101. ($200-400) More>>

105. [MAP]. MITCHELL, Samuel Augustus. Pocket map with text: Text: Accompaniment
To Mitchell’s New Map of Texas, Oregon, And
California, with The Regions Adjoining Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell,
1846. Generally fine and bright. Pencil ownership inscription of
California bibliographer Carl I. Wheat dated 1933. Map: A New Map of
Texas Oregon And California With The Regions Adjoining. Compiled from the
most recent authorities. Philadelphia Published by S. Augustus Mitchell N.
E. Corner Of Market & Seventh Streets. Lithograph map within pink
ornamental border, on bank note paper, original full color (boundaries in
outline shading, Western regions, Baja California, Texas, and border in wash),
Very fine. Quality of coloring in this map varies considerably, but this
copy is skillfully colored, with good color retention. Cohen, Mapping
the West, pp. 134-135: “Mitchell’s `New Map of Texas, Oregon
and California’ was the most popular of the West published up to that
time, and in many ways it defined the American public’s view of the
country’s changing geography.” Wheat, Maps of the Gold Region 29,
pp. xv-xvi. This map and its accompanying emigrant guide have been widely
and frequently praised as the most accurate and current information then
available in separate cartographic form for the regions shown. The map also
shows an early depiction of Texas as a state of the Union, complete with
all its extravagant territorial claims, including a Panhandle that stretches
north to the 42nd parallel and a border on the Rio Grande. This map has been
updated, however, to show Texas divided into counties instead of empresario
grants. Texas, the success of which Mitchell clearly wishes to promote, is
made to sound like an earthly paradise. ($12,000-20,000) More>>

106. [MAP]. MITCHELL, Samuel Augustus. Pocket map with text: Text: MITCHELL,
Samuel Augustus. Description of Oregon and California,
Embracing an Account of the Gold Regions; To Which Is Added, An Appendix,
Containing Descriptions of Various Kinds of Gold, and Methods of Testing
Its Genuineness. Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait & Co., 1849.
Map: A New Map of Texas Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining.
Compiled from the Most Recent Authorities. Philadelphia Published by
Thomas Cowperthwait & Co., 1849. Lithograph map within plain ruled border,
on bank note paper, original full color. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 143. Wheat, Maps of the California Gold
Region 108 & pp. xxvi-xxvii. The text of the guide covers “Oregon
And California,” “Oregon Territory,” “Upper Or New
California,” and “Appendix.” Considerable attention
is given to physical features of the country, flora and fauna, Native Americans,
and history. Practical directions to the potential emigrant are provided,
with repeated admonitions to travel overland in armed groups. The map is
from the same plate as that used to print Mitchell’s 1846 map by the
same title. The map is something of a vade mecum for the Forty-Niner. Kurutz,The
California Gold Rush 447b: “Mitchell’s guide published much
of the standard information on California, including its history, and pre-1848
inhabitants. Mitchell also published advice on routes to California, including
five by way of Central America. The guide also contained government reports
as well as a California circular under the heading of ‘Ho! For California.’ The
appendix consisted of ‘Description of gold in its various states— methods
of testing.’” ($7,500-15,000) More>>

107. [MAP]. KEELER, J. M. Pocket map: Map: Mining Map of Inyo County Scale
12 miles to an inch; [between
neat line and border, at lower right]: Lith. Britton & Rey. Exceptionally
fine. Though issued well after the Gold Rush, this map and its accompanying
text emphasize the ore that has been found in the county and the fact that
gold mining is still a viable industry there. As is typical with many later
publications seeking to promote areas in California, the emphasis has shifted
somewhat to recreation, natural resources, and other advantages to be found
in Inyo County, which is today well known for containing the both the highest
and lowest points in the lower forty-eight states. The little view of Mount
Whitney is striking. ($1,500-3,000) More>>

108. MARRYAT, Frank [Samuel Francis]. Mountains and Molehills; or, Recollections
of a Burnt Journal...with Illustrations by the Author. London: Longman,
Brown, Green and Longmans, 1855. Increasingly difficult to find in original
cloth. First edition. Cowan
I, pp. 150-51: “An entertaining work, and greatly superior to the New
York edition of the same year. The colored lithographs...depicting California
life and scenes, are the most attractive prints of that period.” Zamorano
80 #52. British writer, artist, and sailor Frank Marryat must be
credited with writing one of the most entertaining, fast-moving, humorous,
and colorful descriptions of Gold Rush California. Mountains and Molehills is
one of the real showpieces of California literature. His powers of description
are utterly entrancing and can only be matched by Bayard Taylor and John D.
Borthwick. Unlike reporter Taylor, he was not an observer but a full participant
in this cauldron of chaos. Brilliantly written and illustrated, his book, along
with a handful of others, forever shaped the perception of the greatest gold
rush in world history. ($750-1,500) More>>

109. [METLAR, George W.]. Northern California, Scott & Klamath Rivers,
their Inhabitants and Characteristics—Its Historical Features—Arrival
of Scott and His Friends—Mining Interests.... Yreka: Union Printing
Office, [1856]. Exceedingly rare and little known. Greenwood, California
Imprints 713: “The
first known pamphlet printed in Yreka. Tells of the gold discovery on the Scott
River, at Scott’s Bar, Siuskiyou county. The pamphlet was probably printed
for distribution to miners in the immediate vicinity of the Scott River mines.” The
author shows considerable sympathy for the plight of Native Americans, who
he believes have been mistreated by the United States and in “little
time the race of the red men will have become extinct—their career will
be closed forever.” On the other hand, his denunciation of the British
is extreme and his characterization of Mexico even worse. His final remarks
on San Francisco are extremely flattering, and he predicts great prosperity
for the city, although it is “cursed with fleas.” This is a classic
of booster literature. ($18,000-36,000) More>>

110. MEYER, Carl. Nach dem Sacramento. Reisebilder eines Heimgekehrten
von Carl Meyer. Aarau: H. R. Sauerländer, 1855. An exceptionally
fine copy—it would be difficult to find a better one. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 439a: “Born in Germany, Meyer left for New
Orleans in February 1849 bound for the Isthmus of Panama.... Meyer must be
credited with providing some of the strongest ‘word pictures’ of
the Gold Rush. His summaries of the last vestiges of Mexican California are
all choice. His descriptions encompass a Mexican caravan on its way to the
Mariposa diggings, geology of the region, gold mining camps, San Francisco,
Indians, river steamers, and bull and bear fights in Sacramento.” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 140. ($750-1,500) More>>

111. MILLER, Joaquin [Cincinnatus Hiner]. '49 The Gold-Seeker of the Sierras.
New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1884. Original tan decorated paper wrappers
printed in red and black. Exceptionally fine. BAL 13799 (paper issue, with
priority over cloth). Miller states in the preface that General Sutter first
suggested that Miller write this sentimental novel about the first California
gold miners. ($150-300) More>>

112. MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS. Mining and Scientific Press and Pacific
Electrical Review. No. 1960, Volume LXXVII, Number 5. San Francisco, Saturday
Jan. 29th 1898. Overall a very good copy, back wrap with contemporary
pink printed mailing label to “31983 Sonora Land and Mining Abstract
Bureau. sent 28 ’98.” Wheat, Books of the California Gold
Rush 142: “Here is Ross Browne’s article on ‘The Mother
Lode,’ an article on ‘Origin of the California Stamp [Mill],’ and
another on ‘Recollections of California Mining Life’ (apparently
a reprint of De Groot’s earlier work) illustrated with many woodcuts.
In another article the date of the gold discovery is declared to have been
January 19, 1848, and Marshall is quoted at length to that effect.” ($600-1,200) More>>

113. MÜLLER, J. Das Goldland Californien, oder: Bleib’ im
Lande und Arbeite Fleissig. Eine kleine Schilderung Californiens und der Gefahren,
Welche dem Einwanderer Drohen, nebst der Erzählung von dem Traurigen Schicksale
eines Deutschen Auswanderers. Leitmeritz: C. W. Medau,
1850. With 6 untitled engravings on 3 leaves; generally an exceptionally fine
copy in as-issued condition. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 456a: “After
a brief overview of America, Müller began California: Land of Gold or
Stay at Home and Work Hard with a business-like look at
California history, the gold discovery, mining life, equipment, weather conditions,
and routes to California. The second portion is the pitiful story of Friedrich
Berwick, a master joiner from Germany, and his unfortunate experiences as a gold
seeker. Müller writes: ‘...the following story is told of a German
emigrant to America as a warning to other emigrants to America, young readers,
and everyone else who has a great longing to suddenly leave their dear fatherland
that has always given them and their families everything they needed.’” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 92n. ($4,000-8,000) More>>

114. [ORTON, A. R. (attributed)]. Two Eras in the Life of the Felon
Grovenor I. Layton. Who Was Lynched by the Vigilance Committee, at Sonora,
Tuolumne County, California, June 17th, 1852. For Robbery, Murder, and Arson,
He Having Robbed Three Chilians [sic], Two Men and
One Woman, of Ten Thousand Dollars in Gold Dust, at Mormon Gulch, Murdered
and Burned Them, Together with Their Cabin, May 28th, 1852.
New Orleans, Charleston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia: Published by A. R. Orton,
1853. Original yellow pictorial wrappers. Second edition. In the introduction
to the 1998 Book Club of California edition, editor Richard Dillon describes
the work as “the best-written book in terms of seeming authenticity.” Popular
culture, early Gold Field fiction, interesting insights on attitudes toward
Chileans in the Gold Rush, and a rare outlaw item in collector’s condition.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 641b. ($3,000-6,000) More>>

115. PARSONS, George Frederic. Life and Adventures
of James W. Marshall, the Discoverer of Gold in California. Sacramento:
James W. Marshall and W. Burke, 1870. Howes P105. “One of the most
important works on California history.” Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 483a: “Parsons’ biography has been called one
of the most important works of California history. Gold Rush historian Rodman
Paul wrote: ‘The volume was not an autobiography, but it came close
to being such....’ The purpose of the book was to win support for a
petition to the legislature to grant Marshall a pension. It may have also
been a means to gain interest in the discoverer's lecture tours.” Streeter
Sale 2927: “This book is essential to a study of the Bear Flag Revolution
and the gold discovery.” ($200-400) More>>

116. PATTERSON, Lawson B. Twelve Years in the Mines of California; Embracing
a General View of the Gold Region, with Practical Observations on Hill, Placer,
and Quartz Diggings; and Notes on the Origin of Gold Deposits. Cambridge:
Miles and Dillingham, 1862. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 481. Streeter Sale 2876: “This is a short, clear and
unemotional and in all respects quite a satisfactory account of gold mining
in that part of the gold region included within the limits of Patterson’s
survey.” Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 154: “Observations
of permanent import.” ($250-500) More>>

117. [PECK, George Washington]. Aurifodina; or, Adventures in the
Gold Region. By Cantell A. Bigly. New York: Baker and Scribner,
1849. Given the fragile format of boards, a very good copy. Briefly stated,
the author on his way east to Santa Fe stumbles upon an advanced civilization,
with a capital named Aurum. After depicting his happy adventures there, he is
blown east to Kentucky when his observation balloon’s tether breaks. He
decides against trying to return west, and with that the story ends. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 490a: “Peck’s book has
the distinction of being the first novel based on the Gold Rush. He copyrighted
the work on February 1, 1849. The setting created by Peck is the mythical city
of “Aurum,” situated in the Sierra Nevada.” ($750-1,500) More>>

118.
READ, J[ames] A. & D[onald] F. Read (illustrators). Journey to the
Gold Diggins by Jeremiah Saddlebags. Illustrated by J. A. & D. F.Read. Cincinnati:
U. P. James, [1849]. Overall very fine, the interior clean and fresh. Streeter
Sale 2591: “Jeremiah Saddlebags underwent every possible mishap in this
classic spoof of the adventurers of the Forty-Niner.” The illustrations
by James A. and Donald F. Read are among the earliest caricatures in American
literature of the forty-niners. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 524a.
($10,000-20,000) More>>

119. REVERE, Joseph Warren. A Tour of Duty in California; Including a
Description of the Gold Region: And an Account of the Voyage around Cape
Horn; with Notices of Lower California, the Gulf and Pacific Coasts, and
the Principal Events Attending the Conquest of the Californias.... New
York: C. S. Francis & Co.; Boston: J. H. Francis, 1849. Hill II:1439: “His
book is one of the outstanding authorities on the period of the conquest,
and his descriptions of California and the Gold Regions are among the best.” Zamorano
80 #63: “One of the best descriptions of California and the Gold
Rush.” Despite the fantastic reports he heard, Revere worried
about the effect of gold fever on the moral fiber of California, writing:
‘She is without government, without laws, without a military force, while
tens of thousands of adventurers from all parts of the earth are pouring
into her golden valleys...[and they] will be transformed by the evil spirit
of avarice...into knaves and men of violence.’” As demonstrated
by the six beautifully tinted lithographs that grace the work, Revere was
an artist of ability. They are a fine portrayal of pastoral California. In
addition, his publisher supplied a map by Revere entitled Harbour of
San Francisco Sketched from Beechey’s Survey. ($500-1,000) More>>

120. ROBINSON, Fayette. California and Its Gold Regions; With a Geographical
and Topographical View of the Country, Its Mineral and Agricultural Resources.
Prepared from Official and Other Authentic Documents; With a Map of the U.
States and California, Showing the Routes of the U. S. Mail Steam Packets
to California, also the Various Overland Routes. New York: Stringer & Townsend,
222 Broadway, 1849. Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 168: “One
of the best of the earliest books on California printed for sale to intending
goldseekers.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 539b: “The
excellent map is important for delineating the various sea and overland routes
to California. On the map and one of the small insets, the gold region is tinted
in yellow. The back wrappers carries an interesting publisher’s blurb
promoting the purchase of books by emigrants as a means to relieve the tedium
of the voyage or journey. Stringer and Townsend also advocated selling books
in California, as ‘they eat nothing, not do they spoil, and they will
be sold at prices that will insure to the dealer a profit of from three to
five hundred percent.’” ($5,000-10,000) More>>

121. ROYCE, Josiah. California from the Conquest in 1846 to the Second
Vigilance Committee in San Francisco: A Study of American Character. Boston
and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, The Riverside Press, Cambridge,
1886. Cowan I, p. 196: “Entirely free from the complexities of thought
and style that too frequently attend a work of this kind. This study by Mr.
Royce has long since become a pleasing classic and an authority of value
upon the history of this state.” Zamorano 80 #66. When
Houghton Mifflin published Royce’s moralistic history, it did not receive
the applause the author expected. San Franciscans and those who enshrined
the romance of the golden era did not much appreciate his frank appraisal.
The Overland Monthly ran an unsigned review that excoriated his
book while others simply ignored the work. Royce, however, did receive high
praise from Henry L. Oak, the principal author of Bancroft’s History
of California. Despite the book’s poor initial reception, it has
long been recognized as seminal work, a work that awakened California to
its true history. ($150-300) More>>

122. RYAN, William Redmond. Personal Adventures in Upper and Lower California,
in 1848-9; With the Author’s Experience at the Mines. Illustrated by
Twenty-Three Drawings. London: William Shoberl, 1850. Overall a good
copy, the plates very fine. Cowan II, p. 547: “The charming
narrative of an artist and bohemian who left unrecorded but little that he
saw. His descriptions are among the best of his time.” Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 173. The lovely plates are based on Ryan’s
own drawings. The woodcuts were executed by E. V. Campbell, and the lithographs
by Robert Jacob Hamerton. For liveliness and freshness of both literary style
and observation, this is a difficult book to surpass for the period. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 548b: “The
adventurer quickly found that trading pistols and rifles reaped a much greater
and less strenuous reward than mining. Consequently, his opinion of mining was
negative. Cowan calls this title ‘the charming narrative of an artist and
bohemian who left unrecorded but little that he saw. The plates by Ryan furnish
the reader with some of the best contemporary views of mining, cities, pueblos,
and daily life in California.’” ($1,000-2,000) More>>

123. SAINT-AMANT, [Pierre Charles Fournier]. Guide
pour les Voyageurs. Route de la Californie a travers l'Isthme de Panama.
Extrait du Voyage d'Exploration en Californie et en Orégon, Entrepris,
en 1851-1852, sur l'Ordre du Gouvernement Français, par M. Saint-Amant....
Paris: Librairie de L. Maison, 1853. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 551.
The present work is a vade mecum for French travellers going to California
via Panama. Saint-Amant was French consul to Sacramento and worked
tirelessly to promote French emigration to the state and to document the
activities of French citizens already there. In addition to his other accomplishments,
he was wine merchant, explorer, clerk, actor, and world chess champion. ($500-1,000) More>>

124. SAINT-AMANT, [Pierre Charles Fournier] de. Voyages en Californie
et dans l’Orégonpar M. de Saint-Amant Envoyé du
Gouvernement Français, en 1851-1852. Paris: L. Maison, 1854.
Except for light scattered foxing, very fine, mostly unopened. The Henry
H. Clifford copy. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 552. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 174 (cited as being of special importance): “Written
by an official observer, this was the most extensive French work of the period
on California, and much of it deserves translation.” ($500-1,000) More>>

125. [SAN FRANCISCO COMMITTEE OF VIGILANCE]. “Be Just and Fear Not.” Fiat
Justicia, Ruat Coelum. Self Preservation, the First Law of Man [lower
left in stone]: Designed & Drawn by Chas. Nahl [lower right
in stone]: Lithy of Britton & Rey, S. F. San Francisco: Britton & Rey,
[after May 15, 1856]. Lithographed form accomplished in manuscript and with
Committee embossed seal, appointing Edward C. Nickels as member 6008 of the
Committee; signed by William Coleman, Isaac Bluxome, Jules David, and Charles
Doane. Overall, an excellent copy of a remarkable survival. Going quiescent
in 1851 after restoring some order in San Francisco by means of a few prominent
lynchings, the Committee of Vigilance roared back to life on May 14, 1856,
following the back-to-back murders of William H. Richardson by Charles Cora
and of James King of William by James Casey. A few days after they reorganized,
they seized Cory and King from jail, tried them, and hanged them both publicly
together on May 22. On August 18, the Committee again disbanded. This form
is an indication of the continuing violence and lawlessness that plagued
California as the world rushed in. The first Vigilance Committee was organized
in San Francisco in 1851 during the Gold Rush to try and punish speedily
robberies and arson by the Sydney Ducks. ($1,500-3,000) More>>

126. SEYD, Ernest. California and Its Resources. A Work for the Merchant,
the Capitalist, and the Emigrant. London: Trübner, 1858. Generally
the text is very clean and the plates fresh and bright with excellent coloring.
Currey & Kruska, Yosemite, 296: “The two Yosemite views...were
derived from sketches made by Thomas A. Ayres in 1855.... These illustrations
appear to be the first views of Yosemite Valley to be published in a book.” Howell, California 50:832: “One
of the best books on the resources of California, with much historical material
on the Vigilance Committee.” Wheat, Books of the California Gold
Rush 181: “Reports on mining and kindred pursuits for prospective
immigrants, with illustrations of much Gold Rush significance.” ($1,500-3,000) More>>

127. SHAW, Pringle. Ramblings in California; Containing a Description
of the Country, Life at the Mines, State of Society, &c. Interspersed
with Characteristic Anecdotes, and Sketches from Life, Being the Five Years’ Experience
of a Gold Digger. Toronto: James Bain, [1856]. Shaw spent five years
in California and provides valuable descriptions of the variety of ethnic
types and the cities and towns, characterizing San Diego as “a favorite
resort for horse stealers and suspicious looking greasers...chiefly from
its remoteness and the uncertain communication with the more civilized districts....
[The climate resembles] the balmiest portions of Italy.... In ’54,
but one physician existed in the place, and he died of a broken-heart, occasioned,
it was said, by a want of practice. He complained…of the citizens’ obstinacy
in adhering to robust health.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 570: “In
the preface, this Canadian wrote: ‘My business in California, was a gold
speculation; and there, on the banks of the Yellow Yuba, and many other streams,
I dug deep holes, and made—not exactly my pile—but my observations
on men and things... I shall not so much regret that I prospected as faithfully
for dry jokes, as wiser men did for dry diggings.’ Shaw, through this
detailed volume, attempted to convey to the reader a true sense of what to
expect in California. He included a fine account of the varied types of people
found, with emphasis on the Chinese. He also added an elaborate depiction of
mining methods and a general portrait of all the California counties, missions,
and agricultural resources.” ($1,000-2,000) More>>

128. SHELDON, Mark. Mark Sheldon An Autobiographical Sketch. San
Francisco: The Murdock Press, [ca. 1913]. Anderson 1604:21: “Very
scarce. Only a few copies privately printed for the family. The author arrived
in San Francisco in 1851. Contains an account of the early mining days.” Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 573: “A small portion of this privately-printed
work covers the Gold Rush. Mark Sheldon of Watertown, New York, began his trip
to meet his brother in the California gold country. On July 7, 1851, he left
New York City on board the steamer Empire City on July 12, reached
Aspinwall, crossed the Isthmus of Panama, boarded the steamship Panama,
and arrived in San Francisco on August 19. From there, he took a steamer to
Sacramento and thence to Mokelumne Hill. Sheldon worked various mining claims,
making anywhere from $6.00 to $16.00 a day. He then became a secretary and
paymaster for a Plumas County quartz mill owned by George W. Schultz. In early
1853, Sheldon moved to San Francisco and entered the marketing business.” ($500-1,000) More>>

129. SMITH, W[illiam] C. S. A Journey to California in 1849. [Napa,
ca. 1925]. 36 pp. 8vo, original blue printed wrappers with vignette of ship
on upper cover, original staples. Just the slightest marginal browning to wraps,
else very fine. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 589a: “On January
15, 1849, Smith sailed from New York on the barque Eugenia and landed
at Vera Cruz, Mexico. His party consisted of twenty-one men, including eight
or ten Vermonters, three Frenchmen and a ‘lot of broken merchants from
New York.’ From Vera Cruz, they followed the Mexican National Road to
Mexico City, and then to Guadalajara. At San Blas, Smith boarded the whaler Mary
Frances and sailed north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California. At this point,
Smith left the ship and made a difficult and exhausting walk up the peninsula
to San Diego, arriving on June 11, 1849. From there, he proceeded to San Francisco.” ($500-1,000) More>>

130. SOULÉ, Frank, John H. Gihon & James Nisbet. The Annals
of San Francisco; Containing a Summary of the History of the First Discovery,
Settlement, Progress, and Present Condition of California, and a Complete
History of All the Important Events Connected with Its Great City: To Which
Are Added, Biographical Memoirs of Some Prominent Citizens. New York:
D. Appleton; San Francisco; London, 1855. Overall a good to very good copy.
Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 594: “Supplies much information
on mining and its impact on this instant city.” Wheat, Mapping
the Transmississippi West 798n: “Among the most important Western
maps.... One very enterprising feature for so early a map is a dotted-line
(if unlabeled) showing the Gadsden Purchase boundary.” Zamorano
80 #70. One of the glories of The Annals is its text
illustrations and plates, some based on daguerreotypes by J. M. Ford. They
form one of the best pictorial records of Gold Rush California and have since
been reproduced many times. ($250-500) More>>

131. SPEER, William. An Humble Plea, Addressed to the Legislature of California,
in Behalf of the Immigrants from the Empire of China to this State. By the
Rev. William Speer. San Francisco: Published at the Office of the Oriental,
1856. Speer, the first Presbyterian missionary to work in China and organizer
of the first Chinese church in the Western hemisphere, arrived in San Francisco
in 1852 and established a weekly Chinese-English newspaper. Here he points
out that the Chinese are vital sources of labor in mining and other industries.
He argues that the mining fees charged them be reduced to match that of every
other miner and that the capitation tax on newly arrived immigrants also
be lowered. In conclusion Rev. Speer states: “I can scarce hope for
success as a minister of the gospel in leading them to adore our God, or
love our Savior, as long as the present state of things continues.” ($400-800) More>>

132. STEELE, John. In Camp and Cabin. Mining Life and Adventure, in California
during 1850 and Later. By Rev. John Steele, Author of “Across the Plains
in 1850,” and “The Schoolmates, an Epic of the War of 1861-5.” Lodi:
Published by J. Steele, 1901. Adams, Guns 2130 (noting rarity
and presence of material on Joaquín Murieta). Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 598: “This detailed and important account of mining
life is a sequel to Across the Plains. The three years of mining
experience portrayed in this book was based on Steele’s daily journal.
Steele published the book fifty years after the adventure. The diary began
on September 23, 1850, and ended late in July 1853, with his return to Wisconsin.
While trying to depart from San Francisco, he recorded how his two pistols
saved him from being robbed.” ($1,500-$3,000) More>>

133. STIRLING, Patrick James. The Australian and Californian Gold Discoveries,
and Their Probable Consequences; or, an Inquiry into the Laws which Determine
the Value and Distribution of the Precious Metals.... Edinburgh:
Oliver & Boyd, Tweeddale Court, 1853. This is one of the few early works
linking the California and Australian gold discoveries and the possible consequences
to the international economy. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 606a.
($300-600) More>>

134. [STONE, John A.]. Put’s Golden Songster. Containing the Largest
and Most Popular Collection of California Songs Ever Published. By the Author
of “Put’s Original California Songster.” San Francisco:
D. E. Appleton & Co., [1858]. Overall, a fine copy of a fragile item.
Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush 162: “Much of the
flavor of the gold days, as well as the era’s pathos and humor, pervades
these ephemeral little publications.” ($200-400) More>>

135. STUART, J. C. Autograph letter signed to J. Condley, dated at Sacramento,
December 18, 1850. 2 pp., folio. Gold Rush letter from a provisioner. Describing
some of his travails he comments: “I have mad som money her & lost
somthing. Last weak I had Boath my horses stollen, thats a comon thing her,
stealying horses & mules.” He concludes: “California is not
what we expected but I think I can make anough her to ansser my purpos.” He
advises his correspondent against sending his sons to California. ($300-600) More>>

136. SWASEY, W[illiam] F. The Early Days and Men of California by
W. F. Swasey. Oakland: Pacific Press Publishing Company;
San Francisco, New York and London, 1891. Zamorano 80 #72.
Captain Swasey possessed firsthand knowledge of significant early events and
personally knew many of the California pioneers described in this fact-filled
book. He was often at the right place and the right time. Although written many
years later, his book shows reliability, self-assurance, and polish. Swasey developed
several excellent chapters on the American conquest of Alta California. As a
member of the California Battalion, he participated in and observed many of the
key events and, in his narrative history, wrote with the satisfaction of the
victor. The main portion of Swasey’s work is devoted to short sketches
of sixty-one pre–Gold Rush pioneers and two dozen Argonauts. ($750-1,500) More>>

137. TAYLOR, Bayard. Eldorado, or, Adventures in the Path
of Empire: Comprising a Voyage to California, via Panama; Life in San Francisco
and Monterey; Pictures of the Gold Region, and Experiences of Mexican Travel. New
York: George P. Putnam; London: Richard Bentley, 1850. Libros Californianos: “His
chronicle of the voyage to California via Panama is the best in print, and his
chapters dealing with the constitutional convention at Monterey in 1849 are unexcelled”. Zamorano
80 #73. Robert Glass Cleland, in the introduction
to the Borzoi edition of this two-volume opus, wrote: “This work by an
eminent writer and artist is probably the outstanding book on the early Gold
Rush in California.” Dale Morgan provided this critique: “The chief
defect of his narrative is its point of view, that of a detached observer rather
than that of a participant.” While Morgan may be correct, Taylor’s
command of the language and the scenes he witnessed make Eldorado one
of California’s greatest books. Only J. D. Borthwick’s Three
Years in California (q.v.) exceeds this as a Gold Rush narrative and only
because the Scotsman actually worked a claim. Attesting to the staying power
of Eldorado, it is still in print and has probably been reprinted more
times than any other book on California history. ($1,000-2,000) More>>

138. TAYLOR, Clotilde G. (editor). Dear Family: The Story of the Lives
of Charles and Clotilde Grunsky 1823-1891 As Revealed in Diaries and in Their
Letters to Their Respective Families. [Berkeley, 1955]. Reproduced from
a typewritten copy. Very rare. Originally written in German, these letters
tell the story of Charles and Clotilde Grunsky, who emigrated from Germany
to California during the Gold Rush, settling in Stockton, where they lived
the rest of their lives. ($200-400) More>>

139. [THOMPSON & WEST (publishers)]. [WELLS, Henry Laurenz (compiler)]. History
of Nevada County California with Illustrations Descriptive of Its Scenery,
Residences, Public Buildings, Fine Blocks, and Manufactories. From Original
Sketches by Artisans of the Highest Ability. Oakland: Thompson & West,
1880. This copy is in wonderful condition for such an unwieldy book, usually
found in dilapidated condition and missing plates or the map. The text at
pp. 38-40 and the two accompanying plates concern the Donner Party. The plate
entitled “Arrival of the Relief Party” is especially dramatic,
showing two figures crawling from beneath their snow-covered shelters. Thompson & West
published encyclopedic histories of counties and their development, with
highly inclusive surveys of every aspect of a region from early history to
the time of publication. What makes the Thompson & West histories so
appealing are the many lithographic plates of scenes of urban and rural life,
rather than the usual array of pioneer portraits so prevalent in many county
histories. These Thompson & West Victorian images, often idyllic and
nostalgic to the modern eye, provide superb documentary details of architecture,
street scenes, homes, farms, ranches, businesses, transportation, material
culture, and social history. ($2,400-3,600) More>>

140. THORNTON, J[essy] Quinn. Oregon and California in 1848: By J. Quinn
Thornton, Late Judge of the Supreme Court of Oregon, and Corresponding Member
of the American Institute. With an Appendix, including Recent and Authentic
Information on the Subject of the Gold Mines of California, and other Valuable
Matter of Interest to the Emigrant, etc. New York: Harper & Brothers,
1849. Overall a very good copy, much better than usually found. First
edition, containing the first printed
account of the Donner Party. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 632a. Zamorano
80 #74: “Thornton was one of the real pioneers of Oregon and California,
arriving in Oregon in 1846. He has always been considered a good authority
and this work is among the best of the times.” Colton’s large and
handsome Map of California, Oregon, Texas, and the Territories Adjoining
with Routes &c. is among the best of the commercial maps rushed to
press in 1849 to meet the clamor for details on the route to California and
location of the gold fields. From the viewpoint of California history, the
most important feature of Thornton’s work is his lengthy, dramatic history
of the Donner Party tragedy. The stylized engravings based on drawings by J.
Halpin are the earliest published illustrations of the tragedy, and, naturally,
have been reproduced innumerable times.The folding lithographic map of the
gold regions, western territories, and routes by J. H. Colton is one of the
most famous from the Gold Rush era. ($2,500-5,000) More>>

141. TRASK, John B[oardman]. 4 reports: 4 vols., 8vo, later pale green boards
with printed paper spine labels. Except for occasional foxing and browning,
very fine. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 636n. First editions of four very early scientific reports on
California mineral resources and geology, including detailed listings of mines
in operation with statistics history of various mines, and other valuable documentation
not found elsewhere. While not so riveting as a pocket map of the Gold Rush
or a book like Marryat’s graced with alluring iconography, these somewhat
early California imprints are highly significant for their date and content.
In some cases, the content extends beyond geologic considerations, such as
Trask’s discussion of the “Present Government of Metallic Veins” in
the report for 1854, in which he explores placing all mining operations under
the aegis of the State, with a brief history of the Spanish and Mexican ordenanzas
de minería. To locate all four of these early reports together is a
feat, given their scarcity in commerce. ($750-1,500) More>>

143. TUCKER, J[oseph] C[larence]. To the Golden Goal, and Other Sketches. San
Francisco: William Doxey, 1895. Limited to 50 copies. Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 639: “Tucker's account is significant for its summary
of the Gold Lake excitement, Sacramento in the fall and winter of 1850, hunting
in California, and Tucker's escapade as a filibusterer in Nicaragua and Guatemala.
The good physician returned to California in 1859 via the Butterfield Overland
Stage. This reminiscence contains a list of those he sailed with in 1849.” ($500-1,000) More>>

144. TYSON, James. Diary of a Physician in California; being the Results
of Actual Experience, including Notes of the Journey by Land and Water, and
Observations on the Climate, Soil, Resources of the Country, etc. New
York: D. Appleton & Company; Philadelphia: G. S. Appleton, 1850. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 642a: “Tyson’s
book is important in that it not only described his adventure, but also included
advice on how to stay healthy for those crossing the Isthmus or working in
the mines.” Streeter Sale 2656: “One of the best contemporary accounts
in print of travels to the northern mines of California and of life there in
the summer of 1849. To anyone interested in maps, his thumbnail sketches of
New York on the Pacific, ‘without a house or tent visible,’ of
Sacramento, ‘a few stores and houses,’ of the Johnson Ranch and
Vernon and other places, are distinctly worthwhile.” Because he was a
professional physician, his remarks are the first substantial ones by such
a person aimed at protecting the health of immigrants and miners. ($1,200-2,400) More>>

145. TYSON, Philip Thomas. Geology and Industrial Resources of California....
To Which is Added, the Official Reports of Genls. Persifer F. Smith and B.
Riley—including the Reports of Lieuts. Talbot, Ord, Derby and Williamson,
of Their Explorations in California and Oregon; and also of Their Examinations
of Routes for Rail Road Communication Eastward from those Countries. Baltimore:
Wm. Minifie & Co., 1851. Overall a very fine copy. Author’s signed
penciled presentation inscription on front fly leaf to Col. J. J. Abert’s,
with the latter’s ink ownership inscription on front pastedown. Huntington
Sale 1698: “The most important
work relating to California that had up to this time appeared. It contains a
minute account of the mines and mineral resources in general, lands, land titles,
routes, etc. Also the official reports of Generals P. F. Smith, and B. Riley,
Lieuts. Talbot, Ord, Derby and Williamson, of their explorations in California
and Oregon.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 643b.
($2,500-5,000) More>>

146.
UNITED STATES. PRESIDENT (Zachary Taylor). California and New Mexico.
Message from the President of the United States, Transmitting Information in
Answer to a Resolution of the House of the 31st of December, 1849, on the Subject
of California and New Mexico. [Washington, 1850]. This thick government
compendium contains a wealth of information on the annexation of Alta California
by the United States, the changeover from Mexican to American rule, the transition
from military to civilian government, and the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
It systematically documents the work of the federal government in the newly won
territory from 1847 to 1849. Arguably, these were the most important years in
California history and no single publication provides as much raw data as does
House Executive Document No. 17. When rumors of a great gold discovery reached
military headquarters in Monterey, the government dispatched officers to investigate
the commotion. Because their reports and maps are included in this federal publication,
it necessarily becomes one of the essential works on the Gold Rush. The most
important and influential of these is Colonel Richard B. Mason’s famous
report on his tour of the gold fields dated August 17, 1848. Vividly written,
it is one of the earliest accounts to describe the effects of gold fever on the
local population and one of the first to mention the use of that great symbol
of the Argonauts, the cradle or “rocker.” Zamorano 80 #14.
($1,000-2,000) More>>

147. UNITED STATES. SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. Report of the Secretary
of the Interior, Communicating, in Compliance with a Resolutionof
the Senate, the Correspondence between the Indian Office and the Present
Superintendents and Agents in California, and J. Ross Browne, Esq., together
with the Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Inclosing the Same
to the Department. [Washington, ca. 1860]. Very fine. Rare in commerce.
The report was based on the investigations of J. Ross Browne, a prominent
political and literary figure in the California Gold Rush era and beyond,
whose writings influenced both Samuel L. Clemens and Herman Melville. Although
not specifically concerned with the Gold Rush, this devastating review of
the way Native Americans had fared in California in the decade following
reports little but desolation, destruction, dissolution, murder, and mayhem.
Surveying each reservation individually, Browne concludes that the government’s
charges are not prospering on any of them, and indeed are being made miserable
by the very agents supposed to help them. ($200-400) More>>

148. UPHAM, Samuel C[urtiss]. Notes of a Voyage to California via
Cape Horn, Together with Scenes in El Dorado, in the Years 1849-’50. With
an Appendix Containing Reminiscences of Pioneer Journalism in California.... Philadelphia:
Published by the Author, 1878. Overall a very good copy of a book usually found
out of its binding or rebacked, due to the heavy book block. Howell, California 50:888: “Provides
much information about the early history of Sacramento, the territorial pioneers,
and early California journalism for which there are no other sources.” Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 647. Zamorano 80 #76. ($300-600) More>>

149. VER MEHR, J[ean Leonhard Henri] C[orneille]. Checkered Life: In the
Old and New World. By Rev. J. L. Ver Mehr. San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft,
1877. Very fine, bright, and fresh, with only minor edge wear. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 650: “A first edition appeared in 1864 without
any reference to California. The 1877 Bancroft edition added Part II which provided
a superb recollection of an Episcopalian minister trying to win souls in the
torrid atmosphere of the early 1850s.” ($50-100) More>>

150. [VIZETELLY, Henry]. Four Months among the Gold-Finders in Alta California:
Being the Diary of an Expedition from San Francisco to the Gold DistrictsLondon:
David Bogue, 1849. A fabrication so convincingly told that it was widely
published in Europe and believed for decades. Given the incredibly skillful
and imaginative weaving of detail, dialogue, and incident that the author
brings to the work, it is easy to see why many readers were fooled. A singular
work that belongs in any fiction collection worthy the name. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 653a: “While Vizetelly had never been to
California, he fabricated this convincing account based on other publications
and reports. As Graff points out, this fascinating narrative was accepted
as fact well into the twentieth century.” ($500-1,000) More>>

152. [VOLLMER, Carl Gottfried Wilhelm]. Kalifornien och Guldfebern. Guldgräfvarnes,
Mormonernas och Indianernas Seder och Bruk, antecknade under en Resa i Vestra
Nordamerika... Stockholm: C. H. Fahlstedts, [1862]. Very fine, plates
pristine. Vollmer seems to have been some sort of factotum
writing popular natural history. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 655a: “This
work served as part of the author’s ‘novels of natural science’ series.
‘Zimmermann’ was
his nom-de-plume. The chromolithograph plates are sensational.” Besides
the California Gold Rush, the author describes Mormon settlements, Native American
tribes (including Comanche, Cherokee, Kiowa, Navajo, Cree), etc. The plates,
some of which are reworked from other sources, are interesting for showing
European fascination with the American West and its indigenous tribes. ($300-600) More>>

153. [VOLLMER, Carl Gottfried Wilhelm]. Californien und das Goldfieber.
Reisen in dem Wilden Westen Nord-Amerika’s, Leben und Sitten der Goldgräber,
Mormonen und Indianer den Gebildeten des Deutschen Volkes.... Berlin:
Theodor Thiele, 1863. Very fine internally, the plates excellent. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 655b. Wheat, Books of the California
Gold Rush 238. Although copied from the versions that appeared
in the first edition, the plates here have captions in German, are on a larger
scale, more detailed, and much better executed than their originals. In most
cases the coloring is also more vivid and imaginative. ($250-500) More>>

154. WAKEMAN, Edgar. The Log of an Ancient Mariner.
Being the Life and Adventures of Captain Edgar Wakeman. San Francisco:
A. L. Bancroft, 1878. Forbes, Hawaiian National Bibliography 3248: “During
his long career, Captain Wakeman became well acquainted with other Pacific
ports. For some years he was in and out of South American ports, had stopped
in both Samoa and Tahiti, and had been in San Francisco in 1850 and in Australia
in 1853.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 657. ($200-400) More>>

155. WALTON, Daniel. The Book Needed for the Times, containing the Latest
Well-Authenticated Facts from the Gold Regions; also, A Geographical and
Historical View of California, with the Different Routes, by Land and Water,
and Their Difficulties. A List of Necessary Articles for Those who Go, and
the Mode of Sending Letters to and from there.... Boston: Stacy,
Richardson, 1849. Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 658: “Walton’s
guidebook included much useful information, including a long description
of San Francisco excerpted from the California Star. Walton mentioned
that the paper suspended publication because of the gold discovery. He also
cautioned his readers about the lure of California writing: ‘Our opinion
is that there is a vast deal of knavery in getting up this gold fever.’ The
author quoted a letter of January 13, 1849, from London concerning the gold
excitement noting that ‘John Bull has been actually mad, crazy and
bewildered.’ He recommended strongly against the Panama Route. The
guidebook concluded with his epic poem.” ($5,000-10,000) More>>

156. [WARD, James]. Perils, Pastimes, and Pleasures of an Emigrant in
Australia, Vancouver’s Island and California. London: Thomas Cautley
Newby, 1849. Eberstadt 115:264: “The author came to California while
that country was still the lazy land of missions, dashing caballeros and
laughing senoritas. Neither gold nor conquest had yet come to mar the picture.
His narrative affords an interesting view of the country as it was during
these last days of the old regime, and as it became following the gold discovery.
An Appendix of nearly 100 pages is given over to an account of the mining
districts, the character of the diggings, the routes thither, etc.” Forbes, Hawaiian
National Bibliography 1758: “In the chapter headed Sandwich Islands,
the author discusses trade with the Northwest coast and California.” Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 661. ($750-1,500) More>>

157. [WEBSTER, Kimball]. Author’s untitled holograph manuscript, unsigned,
for his published work The Gold Seekers of ’49 published at
Manchester in 1917. Undated (but ca. 1916). With the manuscript is a
mint copy of the first edition of the book. This is the fair copy of the manuscript
as delivered to the printer. It contains some authorial corrections, including
two typescript pages, but has been extensively edited and marked up for typesetting.
This manuscript is important because it contains a great deal of text that
was stricken and not printed in the published version. So far as is known,
this is the only unexpurgated version of the text in existence. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 667 (printed book). ($5,000-10,000) More>>

159. WESTON, Silas. Life in the Mountains: or Four Months in the Mines
of California. Providence: E. P. Weston, 1854. Wheat, Books
of the California Gold Rush 224: “[Written] on the spot for the
edification of the home folks”. Weston, as noted on the title page,
was a school principal in Providence, Rhode Island, and served as the first
principal at the Rincon school, one of the schools established under the
first state school ordinance passed in 1851 and adopted by San Francisco
in September 1851. Weston also served in the Civil War. Kurutz, The
California Gold Rush 672a. ($4,000-8,000) More>>

160. WHEAT, Carl I. Mapping the Transmississippi West...1540-1861.... San
Francisco: [Grabhorn Press], 1957-1963. Limited edition (1,000 sets printed).
Howell, California 50:1655: “A truly monumental work on the
cartography of the West, from the Spanish entrada to the Geological Survey
of 1877. It was the culmination of a quarter century of research into the historical
geography of the vast Transmississippi area by one of California’s leading
scholars. Beautifully printed and illustrated with over 300 reproductions of
historically important maps from public and private collections.” ($3,000-6,000) More>>

161. WHEAT, Carl I. The Maps of the California Gold Region. 1848-1857.
A Biblio-Cartography of an Important Decade. Mansfield: Maurizio Publisher,
1995. Illustrations of maps. Folio, original tan cloth. New, as issued. Reprint
of the 1942 original, with new introduction by Gary F. Kurutz and addenda
by Warren Heckrotte. ($150-300) More>>

162. WHITNEY, J[osiah] D[wight]. Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada
of California. Cambridge: University Press, John Wilson & Son, 1880.
Includes 24 heliograph reproductions from photographs and drawings and plans
by Carleton Watkins, 12 maps in the text and double-page plate of the Calaveras
Skull, and 2 folded chromolithograph maps in envelope pocket at the rear
with printed label. Hinges a little weak, otherwise very fine and bright,
unopened. The maps are absolutely pristine, with beautiful, bright coloring.
It would be difficult to find a better copy of this important study. This
massive work is among the more comprehensive and detailed studies ever published
on the auriferous gravels of the Sierra Nevada, its foothills and valleys.
Among the plates are photographs are images of hydraulic mining, and much
information is presented for the study of the environmental impact of such
practices on the Sierra Nevada. Whitney provides an excellent overview of
the history of gold mining in California, and all the gold mining regions
at the time, such as Mariposa, Tuolumne, Dutch Flat, Grass Valley, and Nevada
City. He also presents fairly extensive discussion about fossils found in
various areas, including the famous Calaveras Skull. ($1,500-3,000) More>>

163. WILKES, Charles. Western America, Including California and Oregon,
with Maps of Those Regions, and of “The Sacramento Valley.” Philadelphia:
Lea and Blanchard, 1849. Howes W416: “In a sense it constitutes the
first Pacific coast guide.” Kurutz, The California Gold Rush 679a: “Commander
Wilkes compiled this work from data gathered while he was on the Pacific
Coast commanding the United States Exploring Expedition from 1838 to 1842.
He included a chapter on the gold region drawn from official reports and
his knowledge of the area’s geology and his own opinion of gold specimens
sent east. The preface was dated February 1, 1849. The map of the Sacramento
Valley was an important source of information for gold seekers.” ($2,000-4,000) More>>

164. WILLIAMS, John G. The Adventures of a Seventeen-Year-old Lad and
the Fortunes He Might Have Won. Boston: Printed for the Author by The
Collins Press, 1894. Adams, Guns 2404: “Privately printed
book in which the author gives an account of his encounter with Joaquín
Murieta and Three-Fingered Jack García.” Kurutz, The California
Gold Rush 685. Californian and Australian justice, law and order,
and general conditions. He included a chapter on practical advice and anecdotes
including his experience with the outlaw and desperado "Wah-Keen," the
Vigilance Committee, and appalling condition of the Native Americans. The
illustrations depict scenes in Australia and California including one entitled "Entertaining
the outlaws, Wah-Keen and Three-fingered Jack, In California." ($250-500) More>>

165. WOODS, Daniel B[ates]. Sixteen Months at the Gold Diggings. New
York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1851. Howell, California 50:940: “Vividly
describes the sweat and toil of mining life.” Zamorano 80 #80.
Woods, a Philadelphia clergyman, began this lively volume with a preface (dated
July 1, 1851) stating that he intended to make this book a miner’s manual
based on his experience working in the diggings “chiefly upon the American
and Tuolumne Rivers and their tributaries.” A rare Argonaut-clergyman,
Reverend Woods further stated that he kept this journal of mining at the request
of friends, promising to record “its lights and shades, its fortunes and
misfortunes.” He wisely advised his readers that mining was for young men
and those who are doing “well enough” or have families should stay
home. ($300-600). More>>

166.
XÁNTUS, János. Utazás Kalifornia déli részeiben.
Irta Xántus János, a Természettudományok Philadelphiai
Akademiája, az Amerikai Philosophiai Társulat s a Bostoni Athenaeum
rendes tajya. Egy földképpel, nyolcz kö- és nyolcz fametszettel.
Pesten, Kiadják Lauffer és Stolp 1860. Budapest: Lauffer and
Stolp, 1860. Overall, an excellent, desirable copy in the rare boards with a
wonderful illustration of a Losangeleño. Streeter 2860: “First authorized
edition of the Hungarian scientist’s letters on California, where he had
accompanied a railroad survey. Some of his material is said to have been extracted
from the Abert and Emory reports.” Wheat, Books of the California Gold
Rush 237. Janos Xántus (1825-1894), Hungarian naturalist, was a Hungarian
Freedom Fighter and political refugee who immigrated to the United States in
the 1850s and served as a member of the U.S. Army Topographical Engineers. He
collected and surveyed in the Fort Tejón area and Baja California. ($3,500-7,000) More>>